Obama in the weeds

He wanted a public option, but didn’t insist on it. When the House passed an anti-abortion rights amendment to healthcare reform, the president did not threaten a veto. When Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) proposed expanding Medicare for people between 55 and 64, Obama hailed it as a step forward. But when the idea attracted criticism, Obama didn’t demand that it stay in the bill.

{mosads}Now that both the House and Senate have passed bills, Obama has gotten much more involved. He pushed for a tax on so-called Cadillac plans. Peter Orszag, Obama’s budget director, has long favored a commission to rein in Medicare costs. This commission was included in the Senate bill, but not in the House.

But the most telling sign that Obama has gone deep into the weeds of policymaking was his conversation with Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) last week in front of the House Democratic Caucus.

Obama indicated that he does not support legislation in the House and Senate healthcare bills that would grant brand-name biotechnology companies 12 years of market exclusivity before their products would face competition from generic versions of their drugs.

Unlike so many issues on Capitol Hill, this matter does not fall along partisan lines.

Eshoo’s bill is bipartisan, as was Sen. Edward Kennedy’s (D-Mass.) language in the upper chamber.

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman (D-Calif.) favors a five-year exclusivity period. Waxman, who has been working on this issue for years, is presumably lobbying the White House to lower the 12-year figure. His bill is also bipartisan, attracting the support of Reps. Jo Ann Emerson (R-Mo.), Ron Paul (R-Texas) and John Linder (R-Ga.), among others.

On Tuesday, six governors (five Democrats, one Republican) wrote to Obama, urging him to drop his opposition to the Eshoo/Kennedy timeframe.

The letter stated that “jobs and investment are at stake. … data exclusivity provides a clear incentive for innovations … We hope the administration will work closely with members of Congress to gain a better understanding of the complexity of this issue.”

Obama has worked closely with Waxman on healthcare, climate change and the economic stimulus. Waxman’s committee has broad jurisdiction over many items on Obama’s agenda. Nearly a year ago, Obama convinced Waxman to remove controversial birth-control provisions from the stimulus.

Waxman agreed.

Now it appears Waxman has asked Obama to repay the favor, and for now the president appears to be doing so. But if it ends up costing the White House votes on healthcare reform, that may change.