US Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer, Democrat of New York, speaks following a failed vote in the US Senate over health care subsidies last month. | Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images

Another window to stem America’s latest health care cost crisis is about to close. Congress set a self-imposed deadline of January 30 to reach a compromise to extend financial assistance available under the Affordable Care Act, and — not surprisingly — at least so far, a deal has failed to materialize. Already, about 4 million Americans have lost their government aid, and many of them have chosen to go uninsured because they can no longer afford their health insurance premiums without it.

This is the American health care story: political paralysis in the face of unaffordable costs. For the millions of people directly impacted, it is a terrible blow.

I’ve been working on the beat for 15 years, and health insurance keeps getting more expensive. It is one of the most consistent sources of frustration and pain for voters. It is an embarrassment compared to other wealthy countries that manage to deliver universal health care at a lower cost.

This failure to act, yet again, makes the moment feel more hopeless than ever.

But it may not be.

Despite lawmakers’ ongoing impasse, the conditions are actually ripening for another serious attempt to improve the American health care system. Here’s the case for a little optimism on the eve of yet another health care policy failure.

The “remedy and reaction” cycle of US health care reform

What’s particularly galling about this week’s (non)event is that nearly two-thirds of Americans believe it is the federal government’s responsibility to make sure people have health........

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