President Obama, hailed back in February as a savior simply because he was ‘saving’ us from a bad case of Bush Fatigue, is now learning what it’s like when the honeymoon is over.

He certainly deserves credit for refusing to do what his predecessors have done: take one look at health care reform and run screaming from the room. This has to be one of the most thankless tasks in the universe.

Various groups complain and release studies and demand action. Then, when some brave politician comes along and proposes said action, people see change bearing down on them, freak out, and then they run screaming from the room.

(Come on, people, get a grip. Reform is change. You don’t get one without the other.)

Like others before me, I find nothing in any of the proposals I’ve seen so far that will lower costs. And, like others before me, I think there is little point to doing this if it will not reduce costs for everybody.

On the other hand, if reform works as envisioned by other thinkers on the subject — and I invite you to go back and listen to my interview with Dr. Len Nichols — the basic idea here is to force a shift in the health insurance business model.

You see, insurance companies will be forced to offer insurance to everybody, no matter how sick or healthy they are. Since they can no longer make money by collecting premiums from people who are least likely to file claims, they will need to find another way to avoid paying out claims.

That is especially true if the insurance company is required to operate within a competitive marketplace, which will put downward pressure on premium prices.

So, here’s the deal: First, the president is not going to go into detail about his plan during an address given on prime time television. He knows better than that and everybody else should, too.

Second, health care reform is an extremely complex issue with a mountain of stakeholders. Nobody should expect to get everything they want.

Third, it is probable that any attempt at health care reform will be less comprehensive than originally envisioned by President Obama because that is just the politics of the situation.

Fourth, I find it difficult to believe that anybody would argue that it would be better to do nothing — which is what will happen if this attempt fails.

Of course, like the medical profession itself, the first order of business with health care reform should be First, do no harm.

But, given the current state of our health care marketplace, the next order of business has to be Second, do something.