WASHINGTON POST COLUMN: Could this city actually be working? The past week has witnessed several developments — on the Iran nuclear agreement, Medicare reimbursement rates and fast-track trade authority — that offer grounds for, if not irrational exuberance, then tempered optimism…
It moved to restructure Medicare payment systems to reward quality of care over quantity and encourage better coordination of care. And it extended for two years the important Children’s Health Insurance Program, for children in families that earn too much to qualify for Medicaid but too little to afford private insurance…
The Iran measure, culminating in a unanimous vote by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on a framework for reviewing the nuclear deal, reflected the confluence of two forces: the bipartisan congressional interest in asserting its authority against the executive branch, combined with the impact of individual lawmakers committed to negotiating over grandstanding… (more)
