Obama Weighs In on Health Reform (at last)
Tuesday, June 9, 2009 | 0
By Joe Paduda
The health reform battle is escalating. And the President is moving to the head of the pro-reform forces. According to a piece in the New York Times,
"Ultimately, as happened with the recovery act, it will become President Obama's plan," the White House budget director, Peter R. Orszag, said in an interview. "I think you will see that evolution occurring over the next few weeks. We will be weighing in more definitively, and you will see him out there."
Until now, President Barack Obama has stayed above the fray, talking in generalities about the economic imperative of health care reform, the need to automate the cottage industry that is the health care system (my characterization, not his), and the flaws in the current system.
That's not to discount the significant "reform-type" initiatives that passed early on in this very young administration, including S-CHIP, initiatives that would have been plenty important if expectations weren't so high. But high they are, and Obama has clearly decided it is time for the President to start doing some of the heavy lifting.
This is where it is going to get very interesting.
Way back in February 2009 the President put forth a health care reform "plan," actually it was more of a list of things to get done, and avoided addressing the key issue - how are we going to pay for reform, and what medical care should we be paying for (a nice way of saying 'cost control'). Now he's getting a bit more specific, but avoiding any lines in the sand in an effort to gain some bipartisan support.
What's interesting is the disagreement between Senate Republicans and the President/most Democratic Senators is centered around the public plan option. I just don't see this as a huge issue, and continue to wonder why the GOP, AHIP [America's Health Insurance Plans] et al are so bothered by the idea of competing with a government-sponsored option.
I'm wondering if the Dems keep promoting the idea more as a bargaining chip than anything else, as it pales in comparison to changes in reimbursement for physicians, pharma, devices and facilities in terms of overall importance.
That's where the real battle is going to be fought.
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Joseph Paduda's blog, managedcarematters.com, focuses on managed care for group health, workers compensation, auto insurance, cost containment, health policy, health research, and medical news for insurers, employers, and health care providers. Paduda is the principal of Health Strategy Associates.
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