Fear too often trumps reason. There was plenty of support for a law that would ban the worst practices of the insurance industry and bring down costs. Yet given widespread public disdain for Washington, our promises of relief were not considered as credible as the scary warnings against the intrusion of a meddling, incompetent government. Moreover, all the news coverage focused on the plight of the uninsured. Many came to see health reform as something that would help others, but at a cost to them. By June, we were losing momentum. Democrats on Capitol Hill grew increasingly wary of the
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