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The jobs battle
The President's advisors are devoting a lot of communications effort to framing the employment picture. The "jobs battle" is likely to continue as a first-tier economic and political issue through 2010. Here is some context on the intersection among the economics, the policy, and the politics.
Regional inequities in health care reform
In the pending health care bills, low-income individuals and families who buy health insurance outside employment will get large government subsidies. Those subsidies vary by locale. This represents a significant implicit policy decision with enormous distributional and political consequences. I don't think most Members or their constituents have focused on this. I think they should.
Higher premiums and lower wages
The new AHIP / PWC study is flawed in its details, but qualitatively correct in its conclusion: the Baucus bill would make health insurance more expensive for most Americans, and in doing so would mean a wage cut for most. If CBO confirms this, the bill will die.
Numbers matter
Numbers matter in health care reform. I want to highlight some important numbers and economic forces in these bills that are receiving insufficient attention. If these bills become law, these numbers will significantly affect your financial well-being.