National Journal: Panel - 'Food Fight' Possible On Cost Of Health Reform

From The National Journal: Reforming the U.S. health care system will be frustrating and costly, but it will have to be high on the government's agenda, according to an expert panel assembled this morning as part of National Journal's Policy Breakfast series.

The panel, which included Republican Sen. Robert Bennett of Utah and SEIU President Andy Stern, spoke with Atlantic Media Co. Political Director Ronald Brownstein and National Journal staff correspondent Marilyn Werber Serafini today in Washington about how President Obama and the Democrats can pay for the far-reaching reforms they've proposed.

The current health care system will need comprehensive reform, said Liz Fowler, senior counsel to Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., who released his own health reform plan last November and is positioned to oversee reform efforts in the Senate. The panelists all voiced support for Fowler's three core principles of any future overhaul: providing universal coverage, increasing quality of the care and blocking its rising cost. And they agreed fundamental changes would be necessary.

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