There’s a lot of debate about the chances of success. I don’t love the either the Senate or House bills. I personally would have enthusiastically supported something far simpler: Medicare for all with reforms to help control costs.
This would form a floor for benefits, with an opt out for those who have other coverage. A mandate is a must. Spend more on effectiveness research, the Pharma lobby and medical device makers be damned. We need to know what actually works best, not what’s most profitable. Couple that with medical education reform that encourages people who actually want to practice medicine to go into primary care specialties like family practice and pediatrics, by relieving them of 6 figure student loan burdens. Begin slowing the growth of reimbursement to expensive sub-specialties.
Some years ago I worked at a small community hospital in St. Pete. I thought it interesting that an ophthalmologist would come on surgery days twice week and line up eight cataract cases, spend about 15 minutes each and get over $1000 each before lunch.
On another floor we’d have elderly patients in heart failure and diabetics with uncontrolled blood sugar. Both can easily be prevented by relatively inexpensive in-office care and regular follow-ups. We need to spend more on primary care and reimburse less to the guys like the ophthalmologist example.
But I digress, back to the flawed real world plan. Here’s the take I thought the most realistic on it’s chances:
And so Democrats in Congress find themselves facing an uncomfortable but clear choice. Although they may not reap political advantage from the legislation, most of them recognize that failing to pass it would be worse. The devastating aftermath of their party’s inability to act on health care in 1994 remains a vivid, cautionary lesson.
via Will It Pass? The Odds on Health Care – Room for Debate Blog – NYTimes.com.
Pass the plan or you democrats get it, death by circular firing squad. If they had anything remotely similar to party discipline, the whole thing would be a boring fait accompli. At least they keep drama going and going and going.
