Nancy Pelosi’s Golden Opportunity To Lead Again On Health Care

What will Nancy Pelosi do now once she is back in the Speaker’s chair? In light of Judge Reed O’Connor’s recent ruling that Obamacare is unconstitutional and that the entire law must be scrapped, there is likely to be strong pressure to pass some sort of legislation to improve protections for people with pre-existing conditions. Of course, Rep. Pelosi also will face pressure from those who want to resurrect the idea of a public option—an idea she supported during the fierce debates of 2009-2010, but which foundered for lack of votes in the race to the finish line. And with various progressives jockeying for position in the 2020 race, there likewise will be a vocal minority urging a push for Medicare for All. To her credit, Rep. Pelosi has wisely desisted from endorsing that singularly bad idea. But it would be a shame if Nancy Pelosi squandered this opportunity by merely re-arranging deck chairs on the Titanic. By now it is manifestly clear that Obamacare—like so many ambitious government programs before it–has massively overpromised and underdelivered.