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RCP: You’ve been able to assemble a rather impressive bipartisan coalition around your bill, The Healthy Americans Act – which would essentially upend the current employer-based insurance system. Republican Senators Bob Bennett, Chuck Grassley, Bob Corker, Lamar Alexander and Judd Gregg are all co-sponsors of your bill.

Why is your plan attractive to Republicans?

Senator Wyden: Both parties are moving to something of a philosophical truce in this country. I think that Democrats have been right on the idea of covering everybody, because if you don’t cover everybody then the people who are uninsured will shift their bills to the insured. So I think Democrats have been right on that key point.

Republicans have had a valid point in terms of saying you shouldn’t turn everything over to the government. That there should be a wide berth for the private sector, that there should be a wide berth for private market place kind of choices. I think we’ve melded the two of them together, and we have 13 senators as co-sponsors today -- seven democrats, five republicans, one independent -- and I think we’ll be able to add more here before too long.

It’s been attractive to both political parties for the reasons that I’ve outlined. That is different than 1993. In 1993 there were a few, certainly on the part of some conservatives, that believed anything that covered everybody was in some way kind of socialized medicine, government-run health care.

Now a lot of Republicans are saying to themselves that we have to get everybody covered for economic reasons. That’s how you hold down costs; that’s how you stop cost shifting. And a lot of Democrats are saying look we know what happens if you freeze innovation, if you have a one size fits all governmental standard. And I think Democrats are increasingly receptive to the idea that there ought to be wide berth for the private sector and for innovation.

Full Transcript of the RCP-Wyden Interview