Posted on 05/20/2009 1:15:53 PM PDT by radar101
When representatives of various health industries stood with President Barack Obama at the White House last week and pledged to cut health-care costs, it turns out they were traveling familiar terrain.
Many of those same groups had been through similar discussions about curbing costs in California as that state tried, and failed, to pass an ambitious health overhaul in 2007 and 2008.
"That was very important to all the group," said Karen Ignagni, president of America's Health Insurance Plans and a leader in the industry's talks with the White House. "As a result of that effort, a number of different groups began to talk about what are the lessons of California, and how big a problem the rising health cost curve is."
California's experience, in fact, represented a kind of trial run for the health-care overhaul the president and Congress are about to attempt on the national level, offering useful lessons as well as warning signs about the potholes ahead.
Ultimately, though, California's experience shows that success requires convincing lawmakers and citizens that any overhaul will curb costs for all. Ms. Mulkey said in an interview that the attempt to do that was hampered by limits on what any single state can do to corral costs, but also by the fact that supporters spent energy talking about spreading coverage than showing the effort could shrink costs.
In the end, she said, the difficulty in persuading people that costs could be kept down "was the Achilles' heel."
(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...
Hey lets jump over the cliff and see what happens. Lats one in is a rotten egg. O! sorry first one in is the broken egg.
“Curb costs” is code for rationing.
What part of that are liberals too stupid to understand?
Yeah, if it were me, I’d choose California as a *testing* ground (for Socialism). Cause, ya know, everything works out in Cali.
In about 1994 I helped a cousin of mine who was dying of breast cancer FIGHT for MediCAL benefits (she’d worked for 20 years in California) - against the illegals who were getting care over her.....Couldn’t have gotten any better since then...
And all this time I thought California was broke. Guess I was wrong.
Only broke on paper. They have way of getting money for what they want just like my exwife!!
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