Jan. 21, 2010 7:02 a.m.
By George Nelson
YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio -- Health care reform likely will come about on a piecemeal basis rather than as a single bill, following Tuesday’s election results in Massachusetts, U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan said. ##M[MORE]##

The surprise victory by Republican Scott Brown in the contest for the U.S. Senate seat held for decades by the late Ted Kennedy was a sign that Democrats have not done a good job of highlighting the benefits of a lot of their initiatives, said Ryan, D-17 Ohio, Wednesday afternoon.

Brown’s victory takes away the 60 votes Senate Democrats need to overcome a Republican-led filibuster. Brown campaigned on a pledge that he would be the Republicans’ 41st vote to block the Democrats’ health reform proposal.

Ryan told Politico that he hoped Brown’s victory would be a “wake-up call” for his party,” sentiments he echoed in a phone interview with The Business Journal.

The loss of the Senate seat is “a signal that we may be getting out ahead of the American people,” he remarked. “It may be time for us to maybe take a deep breath and reevaluate what we’re doing here.” There may be an opportunity to do some things “that may not be the full reform proposal” but instead passing key components such as preventing denial of coverage due to pre-existing conditions and bankruptcies due to medical expenses, capping out-of-pocket payments, and permitting children to stay on their parents’ insurance plans until age 26 or 27. Passing these components “can be a down payment on health care reform,” Ryan said.

While “a good number of people” oppose the reform bill overall, “if you pull out the specific proposals that are within the reform bill … they poll at 70% approval,” he explained. “So we’ve not done a good job of communicating to the American people exactly what’s in here and how it will benefit all Americans.”

Ryan cautioned against any attempts to try to “ram something through” before Brown is seated, an option discussed over the past several days but one President Barack Obama has warned Democrats not to try. Such a tactic, Ryan said, could ultimately be hurtful “because anything we do needs to have the support of the American people.”

The Democratic Party needs to focus on jobs. “Quite frankly, I think we‘ve been a little weak-kneed on spanking Wall Street,” Ryan said, and called for financial industry reforms.

Ryan dismissed comparisons of Brown’s upset win to the 1994 elections, when Republicans took control of both houses of Congress. Then, members were “totally oblivious” to what was going on within Congress. “Now I think everyone’s paying a lot more attention to what’s happening,” he said.

Copyright 2010 The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.