Editorial: Tackling health care
Despite two wars and an economic crisis, President Obama is poised to tackle health care now. Yesterday, Obama declared "the stars are aligned" to pass his health-care agenda this year. No legislation has been introduced, but Obama has already won some key concessions in reforming health care.
Despite two wars and an economic crisis, President Obama is poised to tackle health care now.
Yesterday, Obama declared "the stars are aligned" to pass his health-care agenda this year. No legislation has been introduced, but Obama has already won some key concessions in reforming health care.
On Monday, six industry groups including hospitals, doctors, drugmakers, and medical equipment manufacturers pledged to wring $2 trillion from their costs over the next decade. Those savings could help cover the nation's 45 million uninsured.
Last week, insurers upped their commitment to health reform by agreeing to end surcharges for women's medical coverage.
Earlier, the then-president-elect secured a key conditional agreement on access to health care when insurers agreed to accept all customers, regardless of past illness or disability.
So in just a few months, Obama has put in place some key building blocks needed to cut costs and expand access to health care.
More important, he has brought to the table all the stakeholders - insurers, in particular - who fought and defeated the health reform proposed by President Bill Clinton in the 1990s.
Obama is right to push for reform now, despite calls to postpone efforts to focus solely on the economic recovery.
"The most significant driver - by far - of our long-term debt and our long-term deficits is ever-escalating health care costs," Obama said yesterday, while standing on the South Lawn of the White House surrounded by House Democratic leaders. "If we don't reform how health care is delivered in this country, then we are not going to be able to get a handle on that."
That said, there's plenty of heavy lifting ahead. Notice there were no Republicans standing with Obama yesterday.
The promised cost-cutting initiatives from providers may not amount to anything. They're voluntary, for one thing. And providers' past efforts at containing costs have failed every time.
But the fact that the providers can propose $2 trillion in savings shows how much fat and waste is in the system.
The most assured means of tamping down costs while providing greater access to health coverage could be through the government-run health plan that Obama proposes as a new option.
Private insurers so far oppose that idea, but congressional proposals being developed would level the playing field between the public and private health plans. That's a good approach.
For his part, the president needs to warm to the idea of requiring that all Americans obtain health insurance. Spreading the cost of care among the greatest number of people can help keep coverage more affordable.
At the state level, short-term initiatives should be pursued to assist the uninsured. Harrisburg lawmakers, for instance, just showed smart leadership by agreeing on a measure to let young adults stay on their parents' health plans.
Meanwhile, it's encouraging that Obama doesn't plan to let a couple of wars and a recession sidetrack him from his pledge to reform health care and expand coverage to all Americans.