We will no longer be paying for the volume of care that's given, but for the quality of care, he said.
Kind, 46, expects to continue to challenge his leadership in coming years.
The
Harvard-educated attorney recently opted to seek an eighth term in the
House instead of launching a bid for governor, though he would have
been the front-runner for the Democratic nomination to succeed Gov. Jim
Doyle.
It wasn't any easy choice, he said, considering his love for the state where he was born and raised.
He
decided to stay put, he said, because there are too many important
national policy decisions being made, such as on healthcare and
financial regulatory reform, as well as determining a new military
policy in Afghanistan, to leave Washington right now.
Given
what is taking place here in Washington & I'm right in the middle of
the healthcare negotiations taking place given my position on the [Ways
and Means Health subcommittee], he said.
The thought of
turning my back on all of those discussions and deliberations and
focusing on a statewide campaign was a choice he was not willing to
make, he said.
Because of the deal on Medicare
reimbursements, Kind now plans to support a comprehensive healthcare
overhaul bill that contains a public option. And he believes Speaker
Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) will be able to find the 218 votes she needs to
pass it.
I think [Pelosi] can get to 218 & it's not going
to be easy, because outside of a war resolution, this is as tough as it
gets, he said.
The healthcare bill will include a
provision commissioning federal studies on ways to remove geographic
inequities in Medicare and rewarding providers for good outcomes at
lower costs. Federal health officials would adopt the commission's
recommendations by 2012. The Institute of Medicine, an independent
nonprofit agency linked to the National Academy of Sciences, would
conduct the studies.
Kind hopes the compromise will
convince other centrist Democrats in the Blue Dog and New Democrat
coalitions to overcome their fears and constituent anger and support
the healthcare reform measure.
He brushes aside critics who question the effectiveness of mere studies.
I haven't heard a better idea yet, he said.
Kind's
support represents a bit of a turnaround. He opposed the first
healthcare bill that emerged from the Ways and Means panel. He disliked
the bill's price tag, and saw it as failing to curb fears that any
government-run healthcare program would only lead to more wasteful
spending.
Now Kind has emerged as a healthcare emissary to centrists, many from rural states.
He's
reaching out to some of the same members he antagonized on the issue of
farm subsidies. Kind's anti-subsidy views also put him into conflict
with some of his leaders.
Kind saw it as a principled stance, and one he doesn't apologize for or regret.
A
former county prosecutor who once worked for former Sen. William
Proxmire (D-Wis.) in his fight against wasteful spending, Kind has
urged Pelosi and other Democratic leaders to fulfill her pledge to set
a new standard for congressional ethics by proactively dealing with any
ethics allegations before they turn into major scandals that further
damage the institution of Congress.
Earlier this year he
joined Flake in calling for an ethics investigation into PMA Group, a
now-defunct defense-lobbying firm under scrutiny for questionable
campaign donations and earmarks. He has voted with Flake and against
Democratic leaders every time the Arizonan has brought his privileged
resolution calling for an investigation into the link between PMA and
campaign contributions to the floor.
We have to have the ability to self-police or we're going to lose credibility in this institution, he said.
However,
Kind has not been willing to join Republican quests to have Ways and
Means Chairman Charles Rangel (D-N.Y.) step down amid an ethics
investigation.
He does acknowledge, however, that having
the chairman of the tax-writing committee admit to severe tax-writing
mistakes doesn't look good.
Of course there's an
appearance problem to that; otherwise you wouldn't be writing about it
all the time if there wasn't, he said. But I think it's important for
us to be able to distinguish between that which is honest, human
mistakes rather than voluntary action that members know are wrong and
having the consequences flow from that.
Without having
investigated the allegations against Rangel himself, Kind says he can't
determine if the mistakes were willful or simply a result of an honest
lapse in record keeping.
We're all ultimately human and
none of us are perfect and we're all prone to mistakes from time to
time, he said. If that becomes that new standard - that any mistake
is subject to dismissal or losing their position - then that's going to
be a very tough standard for each and every member to have to live up
to.
Campaign Spotlight
Kind Communities Service Projects
Throughout my life and work, I'm constantly reminded of the importance of giving back to your community. Therefore, I am asking you to join us as we work to turn out volunteers to the many important public service efforts that are going on around us every day.
