Nothing New Here
President Obama is an outstanding speaker. Tonight’s health care presentation to Congress was no exception. The reaction of both political parties was predictable.
The president wisely did not draw any lines that could not be crossed. He did throw a few bones to the Republicans in the hopes of winning the support of some moderates in that party. The outstanding of those was tort reform.
The often repeated goals of a revised health care system is
- lower costs
- cover all Americans
- drive quality
- and be paid for (without impacting the federal budget)
Unfortunately the number one goal was mostly ignored with the exception of the president’s contention that insurance companies are making added profits in the Medicare system. He did not say Medicare Advantage programs but that is most likely the target of his comment.
There was no discussion about actually lowering costs of health care. There was no discussion about improving the quality of care. Mr. Obama’s focus was on ensuring that no one would be denied health care and that everyone has affordable health care by setting maximum out of pocket payments.
Unless moderate Democrats and Republicans reach a compromised plan there will be no changes in our health care system. Today my bet is on “business as usual.”
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