Last week, after meeting groups representing hospitals and insurance companies, Barack Obama announced a breakthrough on reforming US health care. It was "a historic day", he said. The providers had made "an unprecedented commitment" to curb the system's costs, running at 16 per cent of gross domestic product. They had agreed, he said, to reduce growth in healthcare spending by 1.5 percentage points a year, enough to save $2,000bn (€1,480bn, £1,320bn) over the next decade.
Exactly how was something of a mystery. Was this an aspiration, a target or a forecast? Within hours all parties began clarifying the declaration to the point of meaninglessness. The producer groups, facing agitated members demanding an explanation, denied they promised anything. White House officials repeated the president's assertion, then withdrew it saying he had misspoken, then affirmed it again.
Political slapstick is routine on this issue. What matters is whether the administration, the health care industry and the US electorate are moving any closer to facing the hard choices that Mr Obama is always telling the country he is willing to confront. So far the answer is no.
« Onward to the next economic crisis | Main | Obama owes Bush an apology » Paying for health care reform19 May 2009 10:28 am
My new column for the FT doubts that savings from greater efficiency will go very far to pay for the administration's health care ambitions, and looks at less palatable options for raising the cash.
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Do you think that Medicare is a pie for every one to get a slice and none for the seniors?
I’m not very smart, but I think they politicians are missing the point.
We senior citizens pay Medicare every moth,
Medicare take piece the pie and give the rest to a so call health care provider to take care of senior.
The health care providers takes a piece of the pie and hire some doctors to do some health care and they pass the rest of pie to another care provider to hire another set of doctors to service the senior on dental and eye care. Some health care providers pay another organization a monthly fee to use there network and logo to get more members. Opus there is not much pie left to pay the doctors to take care of the senior.
Too many hands on the pie to benefit others and never mind the senior.
I’m 70 years old I paid in to Medicare all my life and I’m still paying. I have to pay co-pay because some one is making money with my money. I have pay in to Medicare all my live so that I can get heath care in my old age.
Oh yeah?!? Well, what were you saying about the deficit four years ago, huh?
Oh. Well, I guess you have some credibility on this issue.
Now, I don't think that deficit reduction can be job #1 while we're in the middle of the great recession, but of course you're right that we have to deal with it very seriously.
You know, Eisenhower was absolutely furious with Democrats for pushing for tax cuts when we were running deficits. It sure would be nice if the US still had a fiscally conservative party somewhere.