The Thursday summit is yet another chance for the bipartisanship that has been sadly lacking from the process so far. Obama could show a good-faith effort to win GOP support - and reduce one of the cost drivers in health care - by adding tort reform to the package. If the goal here is shared sacrifice for a common good, then the cost of malpractice lawsuits, and the interest of trial lawyers, should not be off the table.

For their part, Republicans should drop their reflexive resistance to doing something on an issue so vital to our economy and our well-being.

If there was a political lesson from the last round, it was that narrowing the potential support base to just Democrats was a recipe for special deals and policy distortions that caused too many Americans to turn away from the cause - and to turn against its architects in the Capitol. (Emphasis added)

It's not an accident that Washington's also talking about reconciliation again [snip]. The Democrats recognize that, after a year of dithering, they need to produce results on health care.

There's nothing earth-shattering in the proposal. Most of these elements have already been endlessly vetted and debated: a national health insurance exchange that will allow patients to shop around, an end to health insurers' ability to simply deny coverage to people with pre-existing conditions, an individual health insurance requirement (or fine), provisions to crack down on "waste, fraud, and abuse" in Medicare and Medicaid.

In response to Anthem Blue Cross California's eye-popping 39 percent rate increase for individual premium holders, the president also calls for giving the federal government authority to block excessive premium increases. And it eliminates Nebraska's controversial Medicaid deal in favor of offering more aid to all the states - which is great news for California. (Emphasis added)