On one side we have the various players in the health care industry and their lobbying entities. On the other side we have the public. Maybe a third set of players are non-health care businesses of various sizes and shapes. Ok, 3 sides! The first side is going to fight anything that will take away some of their money. Anything. They cannot be negotiated with, except from a position of power. As in, "go along with this or it's going to be worse." Then there's the public who need to actually like what you do so they vote to keep you in office long enough to make sure it's implemented. The third "side" is a bit more complicated. Various players with not necessarily aligned interests.
No compromise is going to make the first side happy. Start by compromising and they'll thank you for your lunch money and demand tomorrow's, too. Keep on compromising like this and the public, whose support you need, will be increasingly unhappy.
As for who reporters have on speed dial...
