Some advocates of health-care reform have become concerned that President Obama’s proposals are running into stiff head winds, including the recent cost estimates from the Congressional Budget Office and the debate about whether the legislation should include a government-sponsored “public” plan as one option available to consumers.

But supporters of reform say the cause is more urgent than ever.

And in an interview with Palm Beach Post health reporter Stacey Singer, U.S. Rep. Ron Klein, D-Boca Raton, says he’s optimistic that reform will pass:

“I think it absolutely stands a chance. There are many people in Washington, just like there are many people in South Florida, who are committed to reform which will improve the quality of health care, bring costs down and preserve choice and competition. The rising cost of health care is impacting our local businesses and their bottom lines. Every year, business owners are seeing premiums rise, forcing them to cut benefits, slash hiring or absorb the cost. That is why we are seeing so many different groups of people come to the table to talk about reform.

“Certainly, passing health care reform is a difficult task, otherwise it would have been done already. But families, small and large business owners and South Floridians from all walks of life are calling for reform, and we will make sure their voices are heard.”

Read the rest of the interview here.

By the way, Stacey is doing a whole series of blog postings on health care reform as this debate progresses. You can follow the series here.

The Senate budget plan includes no boost to health care spending despite $1 billion earmarked from the federal stimulus package and an anticipated $1 billion from a proposed cigarette tax hike.

That’s raised the bipartisan hackles of Senate Health and Human Services budget committee members, including Chairman Durell Peaden, who phoned in his complaints on Friday to Gov. Charlie Crist.

“You want it in oral communication or blood pressure readings?” Peaden, R-Crestview, said of his disappointment.

Peaden said he has no clue where the money meant for health care is going.

“Your guess is as good as mine,” he said.

Part of the stimulus money is going to pay for programs for the medically needy and to accommodate increases in the Medicaid caseload, as required to get the federal stimulus money.

But nearly $800 million of the stimulus money is going to be used for non-health care programs and replaced with money a buck-a-pack cigarette tax proposal — if it passes.

Either way, the buck-a-pack cigarette tax proposal will generate $1 billion to offset the more than $1.3 billion the state now pays for tobacco-related illnesses, the proposals sponsor Sen. Ted Deutch said.

“This legislation will generate in excess of $1 billion in the first year. That is new revenue that will go into the health care trust fund for the purpose of funding health care,” Deutch, D-Boca Raton, said..

Sen. Nan Rich called the fund shift a “bait-and-switch” that defies the intent of the federal stimulus plan.
(more…)