(Update: 9:32 a.m. U.S. News and World Report A round-up of comments about the stem cell action President Obama took.)

This is a brief summary of the issues which will have to be thrashed out to get to a piece of legislation—-health care is just packed with my-eyes-glaze-over issues of concern only to those who understand the nuances of that issue.

Please read the whole editorial.

Your views will be important to members of Congress, who want your vote next time they run. They will be asking you what you think, you may be sure.

The Obama administration clearly intends to let Congress take the lead, wisely, as there are legislators there who have spent decades on health care. The president has not. Why not use your experts? Smart move.

At the end, however, he will have to make the hard choices before the final bill is submitted to both houses.

New York Times

“President Obama has shown both courage and sound judgment pressing for quick action on comprehensive health care reform, even in the midst of the country’s deep economic crisis. He has rightly stressed the urgency of reining in skyrocketing health care costs that are straining the budgets of families, businesses, and federal and state governments.

“But his proposals, for all of their ambition, do not fully answer two central questions: how to cover tens of millions of uninsured Americans, and how to reform the health care system to reduce costs and improve the quality of care.”…”Meanwhile, the administration has deliberately ducked some of the most contentious issues. There is no mention of requiring individuals to carry health insurance on themselves or their children. No mention of requiring employers to pay for coverage. No mention of having a public plan compete with private plans in a national insurance exchange. No discussion of whether employee health benefits should be taxed. No talk of requiring insurers to cover all applicants. No mention of government negotiating Medicare drug prices.”

…”The White House has obviously decided that it is best to let Congress work out the compromises and decide how to allocate the pain. That is the opposite of the Clinton administration’s approach. It hatched a highly detailed plan in secret that never won Congressional support and crashed under a barrage of opposition from affected industries.

“We do not challenge Mr. Obama’s political instincts. We simply note that someone will need to make the hard choices if health care reform and universal coverage are to succeed.”

Source: New York Times, March 8, 2009