Stark matters

Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) hasn’t been a major player in healthcare policymaking over the last dozen years. From 1995 to 2006, Stark lambasted Republican healthcare bills and since 2001, he has been a constant critic of President Bush.

After Republicans gained control of Congress in 1995, Stark was generally powerless to thwart the GOP healthcare agenda.
He issued sharp elbow-like press releases and introduced dozens of bills that he knew were going nowhere.

K Street (and the media) didn’t pay much attention.

Stark, 76, could have easily retired over the past decade. The Air Force veteran reportedly said he stayed on Capitol Hill to pay for his young children’s anticipated college tuition costs, but he could have made more money in another capacity in Washington.

Stark’s perseverance has paid off. He is now chairman of the Ways and Means health subcommittee, arguably the most powerful subcommittee in the lower chamber.

Healthcare groups are monitoring every move Stark makes as he is taking the lead to find $50 billion in Medicare savings, which will be used to pay for an expansion of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP).

Stark has long been a critic of the pharmaceutical and HMO industries. However, he has made it clear that he is looking at all health sectors for cuts.

Earlier this week at a subcommittee hearing on Medicare, Stark said, “No program or payment system, no matter how big or small, is above review. Everything is on the table in terms of refinement and other adjustments.”

Translation: Stark is looking for a lot of money and no healthcare provider is safe from his ax.

In the short term, Democrats want to use Stark’s savings to get more kids covered under SCHIP.

In the long term, Democrats and Republicans need to save Medicare from bankruptcy, something that Comptroller General David Walker has repeatedly said is getting closer everyday.

The last time Congress acted on a broad bipartisan basis to enhance Medicare’s solvency significantly was the 1997 Balanced Budget Act. That historic bill passed and was signed by President Clinton when Medicare was a just few years away from insolvency.

Stark this week said Medicare is not in crisis. That may be true, but crisis is just around the corner.

Stark is one of the most liberal members of Congress. He is an ardent critic of the Iraq war. For years, he engaged in verbal wars with ex-Rep. Bill Thomas (R-Calif.) on almost every facet of healthcare. And over the last six years, he nearly got into physical altercations with a couple of other House GOP members.

It won’t be easy, but House Democrats can probably pass their $50 billion of Medicare cuts through the lower chamber without much GOP support. But to fix Medicare’s long-term problems, Stark will need to work with the other side of the aisle to strike a deal — as Republicans did in 1997.