Kathleen Sebelius, secretary of Health and Human Services, was not prepared for her appearance on Meet the Press yesterday. David Gregory ate her alive. David used the interview techniques that proved so valuable to his predecessor, Tim Russert. He simply used her own words in questioning the administration’s plan for health care.
President Obama’s objectives were repeated by Mrs. Sebelius in an NPR interview. She did not disavow those goals.
- lower costs
- cover all Americans
- drive quality
- and be paid for (without impacting the federal budget)
She was unable to explain where there are any consequential savings in the Obama health plan. Then she went on to admit that coverage for all Americans isn’t a priority but it is one “of the goals.” As to quality of care she admits there will be limits but argued, fairly well, that limits exist now in currently available insurance plans. Finally Mrs. Sebelius told viewers that the president has not taken a position on taxing the wealthy to pay for the federally sponsored plan. He has not offered any ideas on how to pay for his plan.
All in all, the secretary’s appearance gave me no assurance that any part of this plan has been well researched. I agree with those that say health care should be available to everyone just like police and fire department services. The problem is that 85% of the population has health insurance through their employers. The second problem is the current cost is too high.
If all of the above goals are equally important congress will have to devise an alternate plan. Mrs. Sebelius confirmed that the cost of health care has reached 16% of GDP. That should be enough of a motivator to make this happen.
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