A Message From the Last Democrat Who Failed at Health Reform

Take it from a guy who knows: The chance to seriously reform the health care system doesn't come around very often.

Bill Clinton is a guy who knows, and he says Senate Democrats can't let the opportunity pass them by. While there's all sorts of teeth gnashing among Dems who can't agree whether the Senate reform bill is too far to the left or panders too much to the right, Clinton says it would be a "colossal blunder" to not pass it.

"Does this bill read exactly how I would write it? No. Does it contain everything everyone wants? Of course not. But America can’t afford to let the perfect be the enemy of the good," Clinton says in a statement aimed at Howard Dean and other liberals who want to defeat the bill. Calling it a "good bill," he says the measure "will shift the power away from the insurance companies and into the hands of consumers."

Insurance companies helped sink Clinton's universal health care plan in 1994, and they're playing a part in shaping this year's debate. A number of concessions have been made in the Senate toward getting President Obama's reform passed, including dropping the so-called public option plan that would compete with private insurers. A compromise to expand the pool of people covered by Medicare lived a short life. That idea was roundly opposed by industry and business groups. Dean called the Senate bill "a bigger bailout for the insurance industry than AIG."

While there's still plenty of industry opposition, Obama managed to get some of the key opponents to Clinton Care on board for this year's debate: doctors, hospitals, and drug companies. Some big business groups have said reform needs to happen to stop the rise of health insurance costs.

"At last, we are close to making real health insurance reform a reality," Clinton says. "We face one critical, final choice between action and inaction. We know where the path of inaction leads to: more uninsured Americans, more families struggling to keep up with skyrocketing premiums, higher federal budget deficits, and health costs so much higher than any other country’s they will cripple us economically."