You might have thought the Democrat health care plans were dead, but don't count on it.

President Obama is pushing Democrats in Congress to "finish the job" although his party is deeply divided between the left-wingers favoring a wholesale takeover of health care and the more moderate Democrats unwilling to leap off the cliff for Obama. Still, the president keeps beating the drums for a takeover.

Just in case a health insurance mandate does get passed, Gov. Sonny Perdue and his legislative leaders are working on a proposal to allow Georgia consumers to purchase health insurance across state lines. It is part of the national Republican plan to fix health care insurance.

Perdue was looking over his shoulder in mid-January when he said:

"With sweeping insurance mandates from Washington on the horizon, the time has come to open up the individual insurance market and allow consumers to find the plan that best fits their needs."

A bill to allow interstate health insurance shopping will probably be ready for introduction next week, according to the governor's press secretary, Bert Brantley.

"If they are going to require people to buy health care insurance, then we want to give them options, making sure they have as much choice as possible," he said when we talked by phone yesterday.

At the same time, a priority concern is making sure Georgia consumers are protected, "a valid concern," Brantley added.

The legislation would put Georgia in the forefront of states taking this route, but it would be only part of the solution, Brantley observed. "It's not a silver bullet," he said.

In addition to the interstate insurance proposal, national Republican leaders have been pushing for three other "common-sense reforms that will lower health care costs and expand access to quality care without a government takeover," as House GOP leader John Boehner of Ohio put it.

The Republican plan would "allow individuals, small businesses and trade associations to pool together and acquire health insurance at lower prices, the same way large corporations and labor unions do."

In addition, states would be empowered to "create their own innovative reforms that lower health care costs."

And, finally, the GOP mantra for insurance reform: "end junk lawsuits that contribute to higher health care costs by increasing the number of tests and procedures that physicians sometimes order not because they think it's good medicine, but because they are afraid of being sued."

The first two proposals make sense. Add coverage for existing conditions and there's a basic reform plan. But, of course, good ideas are going nowhere since the Democrats have a chokehold on Congress.

And despite the stunning victory of Republican Scott Brown in the Massachusetts Senate race, Democrat congressional leaders this week were at work to determine if they can move their health care takeover forward by a simple majority vote in the Senate since they lost their 60-vote majority.

When it comes to Obamacare, as Yogi Berra said, "It ain't over 'til it's over."

dmckee9613@aol.com