Health care reform was stalled earlier this week. Blue Dog Democrats on the Energy and Commerce Committee were holding up the Committee’s vote on health care reform over rural reimbursement rates, among other things. But by Wednesday afternoon, the Blue Dog Caucus and Henry Waxman had cut a deal which will allow the Committee to vote the bill out before the August recess.

The details of the deal are still unclear, but it is clear that a majority of the hold-out Blue Dogs are now on-board with real health care reform. The Huffington Post reports:

"Back in Washington, House lawmakers indicated they were moving ahead on their version of the health care legislation after leaders and fiscally conservative Democrats worked out a deal. Senators trying to reach a bipartisan compromise also indicated progress in paring the costs of the plan as they push for an agreement they hope will appeal to the political middle.

Four of the seven so-called Blue Dog Democrats on the House Energy and Commerce Committee said they resolved their differences with Chairman Henry Waxman of California. The lawmakers also had been meeting with White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel."

The President, at a town hall meeting in North Carolina, outlined basic principles of health care reform; the President’s principles can be summed up with three phrases: reducing redundant costs in our system, ending discrimination against the those with pre-existing conditions and making sure that every American has access to an insurance plan which enables them to afford doctor’s visits. The President also told the audience that he’d veto any bill that doesn’t end discrimination, reduce costs and expand access before re-iterating his support for the public option.

And as for Max Baucus’ idea that being last would make him the most relevant person in the debate, and therefore akin to a health care reform dictator? It seems that Baucus and his Republican cohorts have waited too long, and have alienated key players in the Senate and the House. Salon reports:

"Many Senate Democrats also still seem to prefer a public insurance option, rather than a co-op. Even lawmakers who were skeptical of the public option to begin with admit that the co-op idea is only picking up steam now because the Finance Committee is focusing on it. That might not be enough to carry it through. So lawmakers who aren’t involved in the talks aren’t quite willing to write off the Finance Committee’s compromise without seeing it. But they’re starting to run out of patience. The No. 2 Senate Democrat, Dick Durbin of Illinois, said there was "high anxiety" as Baucus slogs through negotiations with the panel’s top Republican, Chuck Grassley of Iowa. "This is really behind closed doors with six senators," Durbin said. "The rest of us are truly on the outside." The only message Democratic leadership has really conveyed to Baucus? "Hurry up," Durbin said. Baucus wouldn’t say much Tuesday about the progress of the talks, or when the talks will be done."

And George Miller, a key House Committee Chairman and a strong ally of the most powerful person on Capitol Hill (Speaker Nancy Pelosi) attacked Baucus’ plan in the Washington Post today:

"A leading House liberal, George Miller, said of the emerging Senate bill: "I don’t think that adds up to health care reform. It doesn’t add up to insurance reform. It doesn’t add up to keeping costs down. I don’t know what the hell that adds up to."

Our pressure is working. Progressive Senators and Representatives are standing up to Max Baucus, and insisting that this once in a lifetime opportunity be used to help the American people, and not Baucus’ special interest friends. Over the next month, we have to stay engaged. We have to bring grass roots democracy to the town hall meetings Senators and Representatives frequently have. Stay involved, and keep up the fight. The media won’t report this news flash, but the fact is that we’re winning.

Update: The deal includes a public option, but the public option’s rates are not initially linked to the Medicare fee schedule. In the eyes of Progressive Caucus Co-Chairwoman Lynn Woolsey (D-CA) this means that the public option isn’t robust. The original bill, which has been reported out of two committees included a public option which had Medicare rates plus 5% for the first five years and then must negotiate its own prices. The Senate HELP bill passed the same plan, but with the rates set at Medicare plus 10% for the first five years. Whatever Waxman’s Committee passes has to be merged with the other Committee’s product. It’d stand to reason that some Medicare rate variant will be in the bill considered by the House in September.