Kennedy Leaves Lasting Impact On Benefits

 

Friday, Sep 04,2009, 9:17:55 AM   Click:

It would be difficult to overstate the impact of the late Senator Edward Kennedy has been on benefits.

Helped by his leadership and legislative powers, Congress has adopted measures that have benefited millions of employees and their dependents.

Its most important achievement in the field of services provided with the adoption of a law in 1996 that curb the use of conditions excluding pre-existing medical plans of care.

The enactment of that legislation, in which Sen. Kennedy played a key role fashioning a deal for which Republicans and Democrats voted, has been a boon to employers and employees. For employers, it removed a roadblock that made it more difficult for them to recruit employees, and for employees, it made it easier to move on to jobs they wanted.

He also played a vital role in last year’s passage of mental health care benefits parity legislation, a law that ended decades of discrimination in health plan coverage of mental disorders.

Sen. Kennedy, who died last week of brain cancer, had an unusual style. He was not of the take-it-or-leave-it school of politics many lawmakers now practice.

He was different, understanding that lawmaking is as much about negotiation and compromise as it is about good ideas. On the portability bill, for example, which Sen. Kennedy very much wanted, he had to accept a provision he disliked, advanced by Senate Republicans to allow employers to offer medical savings accounts, the predecessor to health savings accounts. Considerable negotiation led to a fair compromise on MSAs, and millions of workers benefited from the enactment of the portability legislation.

We hope Sen. Kennedy’s approach to lawmaking is one that members on both sides of the aisle follow as they try to reach agreement on health care reform legislation—the passion of Sen. Kennedy’s political life.