Among liberals, the insurers tend to get the bogeyman role in health reform for a couple reasons. First, they were responsible for the Harry and Louise ads, which were the symbol of ClintonCare's defeat, if not the actual cause. Second, insurers are the most obviously problematic of the relevant stakeholders, with a business model that's much more dependent on the current system's dysfunctions. Third, they have a lot of money, and spend a lot of it in campaign contributions. And, to be sure, insurers are one of the bogeymen in health reform! But not the biggest. When thinking through what happened in 1994, you first need to line up your suspects: You've got the President, and the Senate, and the House, and the Republican and Democratic parties in both, and the liberal interest groups, and the big business community, and the small business organizations, and the insurers, and Pharma, and the hospital association, and the AMA, and AARP, and the media, and a host of others.
