Kennedy Death Could See Dodd Move To Head Health Panel

NU Online News Service, Aug. 26, 3:55 p.m. EDT

WASHINGTON–The death of Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass. could put Sen. Tim Johnson, D-S.D., an advocate for giving insurers a federal charter option, in line to become the new chairman of the Senate Banking Committee, sources said.

That would occur if Sen. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., decides to leave as head of the Banking panel and take the post Sen. Kennedy held as chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pension Committee.

Such a move is just one of the potential fallouts from Sen. Kennedy's death

Commenting on the impact of the void it creates, an official of the National Association of Health Underwriters said, "What he brought to the table was the ability to make compromises and get Democrats in his caucus to go along with it. They may not have liked it, but they'd do it."

NAHU's concern, said Janet Trautwein, NAHU, is that "the passing of Senator Ted Kennedy may encourage some to act quickly in a very partisan fashion."

However, Sen. Kennedy's true legacy "was his ability to bring stakeholders together and reach across the aisle in a very bipartisan fashion," she said.

In general, Ms. Trautwein said, NAHU expects Congress to reevaluate the health reform proposals that are currently on the table in the wake of dwindling public approval of the reform proposals approved by congressional committees so far.

In a note to investors, analysts at Washington Analysis, which advises brokerages and hedge funds, said they don't believe Sen. Kennedy's death will move the ultimate bill to the left, that is, a mandated "public option."

"The polls, town hall outcry, yesterday's ten-year deficit numbers and recent statements argue for a more moderate direction," the analysts said.

These would include fixing Medicare payments to doctors, Medicare/Medicaid changes dubbed "cost containment" baby steps, and possible expansion of Medicaid, the analysts said.

"Such a Plan B amounts to basically doing little overhaul, but the Democrats are likely to advertise such a bill as the 'next installment of health care reform,'" the analysts said.

Officials of the National Association of Professional Insurance Agents agreed, saying that some form of health care reform will pass in Congress and be signed into law.

"The question is, what will that legislation include," the PIA official said.

Regarding the Senate panel, congressional sources said that if Sen. Johnson decided not to accept the banking post, because he is still recovering his speech after suffering bleeding on the brain in December 2006, Sen. Jack Reed, D-R.I., would succeed Sen. Dodd as chairman of the banking panel.

In comments to reporters from his Connecticut office this afternoon, Sen. Dodd said he hadn't given the chairmanship a "second's worth of thought" and would consult with Democratic leaders about the next steps in the coming days.

"I'll leave that for a decision down the road over the next few days," Sen. Dodd said.

Regardless of his decision, he said he "intended to be deeply involved" in the health care debate and that Kennedy's staff will "continue to play a very, very important role" even though the chairmanship question remains unresolved.