I thought that the President’s speech last night was, as usual, sound, articulate and well-reasoned. Nonetheless, I remain dumbfounded by the extent to which the President and congressional leaders in both parties have permitted the debate over healthcare reform to be dominated by two red herrings.
Red Herring #2: There is broad agreement among the people who are most informed about America’s healthcare system that the trillion-dollar question isn’t who pays, but rather what we pay for. Most of us, covered or not, are now ensnared in a system that is virtually hard-wired to cost us more and more every year — for our own insurance, for taxes that pay for other people’s care, and for whatever care isn’t covered by any insurance. The pay-for-procedure system in America today is one where just about every incentive runs in the wrong direction and where only the guys in the middle — the health insurance companies — are coming out ahead.
Are we getting better quality care in exchange for paying higher prices? Nope.
Are more people covered by insurance? Nope.
Are we getting healthier as a population? Nope.
Will the legislation being debated in Congress fix these core problems? Nope.
Regardless of what the folks in Congress do, we in Maine need to think about what we will do here at home to bring down costs, broaden coverage, and improve access and quality. For a variety of reasons, we may be uniquely well-positioned to make some real fixes that move us in these directions . . . regardless of what the folks in Washington do . . . or when they do it.
More thoughts on this later.
Tags: Blog, Healthcare Reform