AHLAlerts: American Health Line’s Blog

President Obama in his State of the Union address on Tuesday spent little time discussing health care and the federal health reform law. Obama’s speech included just 44 words on health reform, far fewer than in his previous addresses.

Sarah Kliff of the Washington Post‘s “Wonkblog”and Forbes‘ Robert Book had different conclusions on why Obama said so little about the overhaul.

Kliff writes, “In the lead-up to an election year, the State of the Union address is often read as an opening campaign gambit, laying out political contrasts that will define the next 11 months.” She questions whether the address indicates that Obama will leave health care “on the campaign cutting room floor.”

Kliff rationalizes the strategy of not discussing the overhaul by arguing, “Spending too much time defending the health reform law gives weight to the treat of repeal, recognizes it as legitimate.” She also gives examples of other presidents who have not mentioning “major, recently passed health care legislation” in their state of the union address, such as President Lyndon Johnson saying little about Medicare just 12 days after the landmark program was enacted.

Book counters that Obama’s dearth of words on the overhaul might have “something to do with the fact that the law remains deeply unpopular with a skeptical public, or the fact that despite some provisions to ‘increase coverage’ have already gone into effect, the percentage of American adults without health coverage has increased to an all-time high of over 17%. “

Our Take: Sure, if the federal health reform law were more popular, Obama might have opened with it and spent more time on it throughout the speech. Book implies that Obama spent so little time on the health reform law in an attempt to distance himself from unpopular legislation, but that conclusion seems misguided. As Kliff argues, continuing to defend the overhaul will only make voters think that there is something wrong with it. Although the GOP presidential candidates continue to target the health reform law, it would do little benefit to Obama to bring attention to it.

By Lindsey Underwood, Staff Writer