Obama Listens to Republican Ideas in Heath Care

President Obama is going to address some of the concerns that the Republicans share about the current health care bill. In a letter, Obama said that he was open to ideas from the Republicans in regards to health care. A New York Times article states:

In a letter to Congressional leaders of both parties, Mr. Obama said he was open to four specific ideas raised by Republicans at the daylong health care forum last week, including encouraging the use of tax-advantaged medical savings accounts and increasing payments to doctors who treat Medicaid patients.

By signaling that he is open to the opposition’s ideas, Mr. Obama struck a bipartisan tone even as the White House prepared the ground for Democratic efforts to pass comprehensive legislation on a party-line vote. Mr. Obama is scheduled to speak about his strategy for passing the bill in remarks at the White House on Wednesday.

Listening to the opposition is a good for Obama, but it is clear that he will not be able to include all of the things that the Republicans want in the bill. Republican suggestions to stop and start over were also rejected once again by the president. At this point it seems that starting over is not an option because the government needs to get something out soon that will fix our poorly constructed heath care system.