Rep. Tammy Baldwin, one of the most liberal members of Congress, and Rep. Tom Price, one of the most conservative, seldom agree on political issues.... But the two agree on one thing: Significant health care reform stands little chance of getting through Congress.

That political reality is unlikely to change with the recent election. And it has made Baldwin and Price improbable allies.

The two are backing an approach designed to get around Washington's deadlock on health care reform. They are part of a group of lawmakers and policy analysts -- one that includes Democratic U.S. Sen. Russ Feingold of Wisconsin -- that would use states as laboratories to test different approaches for expanding insurance coverage, improving quality and controlling costs...

Len Nichols, director of the health policy program at the New America Foundation, a policy research organization that focused on bipartisan solutions, agreed that states will need an incentive.

"You've got to have federal resources," Nichols said. "But you've got to have state ingenuity. And that's what this proposal calls for..."

For the complete article, please visit The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel website.