It’s been about a week since Republican Scott Brown’s election to Senator Edward Kennedy’s Massachusetts Senate seat derailed Democrats’ health care reform efforts by ending their filibuster-proof, 60-seat majority.

As the Obama administration adjusts its political strategy to focus on the needs of the working class, EBA health care reform panelists share their thoughts on the surprising turn of events in Massachusetts. 

The election of Scott Brown brings the country “one step closer” to the goal of bipartisan health care reform, long advocated by the National Association of Health Underwriters, says CEO Janet Trautwein. “We hope Senator-elect Brown will use this opportunity to promote better options for health insurance that will not risk our nation’s financial security,” she says, “nor an individual’s access to quality health care.”

Glad that Brown’s election has slowed down the reform process, Tom Schuetz, co-president of Iowa’s Group Services, hopes the new Senate lineup leads to “meaningful reform that doesn’t demand more government regulation and involvement.”

The process may be stalled, but Diane Boyle, vice president, federal government relations, with the National Association of Insurance and Financial Advisors believes some form of health care reform will still pass. “It appears Congress will now shift its efforts to insurance reform,” says Boyle. “NAIFA will continue to represent the interests of our members and their clients to ensure consumers have access to professional service in a sustainable health insurance system without resorting to new public programs.”

A post-election Washington Post poll reports health care was the top issue driving Massachusetts voters’ decisions. Eight out of 10 Brown supporters were opposed to current health care reform proposals. “The American public is simply worn out by the frenzied pace of passing legislation and spending that has occurred over the last 12 months and the Massachusetts election, following the governor races in New Jersey and Virginia in late 2009, are evidence of this,” says Schuetz. “If the Scott Brown election does nothing more than slow down the current partisan frenzied pace then that in itself is a victory.”

Minority Leader Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) had the right idea when he suggested legislators start over on health care reform and focus on cost, says CPA Doug Powers. “The current legislation amounts to covering more Americans with a broken plan,” he says. “The problem isn’t coverage. It is expense and we, the American people, are responsible. Until we start taking responsibility for our health, the health care crisis will be just that — a crisis.”

Brown’s election provided some “breathing room” to reassess the focus of reform, adds Pat Carpenter, vice president of business development for Ohio’s Sequent Retirement & Benefits Group.

Carpenter suggests several ways to improve the reform effort. These include allowing carriers to sell across state lines, requiring carriers to offer at least one “basic plan” with no mandates that is age and gender rated, tort reform, incentives to upgrade the Electronic Data Interchange to reduce prescription errors, duplication of tests and claims processing, as well as making tax consequences equitable.

Additionally, Dave Lapka, president of logistics consulting company D360, wants Congress to address what he believes should be the real goal of health care reform: providing “comprehensive or additional health care for certain segments of the population” — not insurance reform.

As cost is the most important issue preventing achievement of that goal, Lapka suggests several ways to alleviate the system, some of which include improving the current FDA drug approval process, increased use of electronic records, national competition among insurance companies and higher admittance rates to medical school.

“When the American people get closer to the real costs of medical care and their wallets are incentivized to lead more healthy lives, treat minor illnesses at home, etc., costs will come down,” says Lapka. “Until then, everything else will just be cost/price transfers to the deepest pockets.”

Moving forward, the Council of Insurance Agents & Brokers says there is no clear path on health care reform. “The focus now is centered on moving forward with a new bill that would be a scaled-down, incremental approach on key provisions that have bipartisan support. Defining those provisions will be difficult,” says Joel Kopperud, CIAB’s director of government relations.

Kopperud calls the fallout of the health care legislation “really astonishing” and predicts a “major pivoting” in President Barack Obama’s agenda during tonight’s State of the Union address. “The amount of political capital spent in 2009 on issues ranging from bailouts to health care leaves little room for the president to move ahead on anything that doesn’t achieve some Republican support in 2010,” he says. “Scott Brown’s election gives a lot of Democrats reason to buck future requests from the administration, as Democrats now believe that all 50 states are in play.”