Health Bills Too Timid on Cutting Costs, Experts Say: Proposals Make Only Trims...

Washington Post ^ | November 4, 2009 | Ceci Connolly

[Jim Noble]

Democrats in Congress are embracing the spirit of President Obama's call to slow the runaway rise of health-care costs but are shying away from some of the most aggressive techniques for achieving that...

Instead of revolutionizing how care is delivered and paid for, experts say, the legislation being shaped takes a cautious approach to reining in costs...

"The bills are directionally correct, but they're not going far enough," said George Halvorson, chairman and chief executive of Kaiser Permanente and the author of "Health Care Will Not Reform Itself."...

Now, as the debate reaches a critical juncture, many are worried that the president's ambitious hopes to constrain costs could result in tepid half-measures on Capitol Hill. Among the concerns:

-- A Senate plan to tax high-priced insurance policies saves far less money -- and is less likely to change medical consumption -- than eliminating the tax exemption for employer-sponsored coverage.

-- Proposals on comparative-effectiveness research and a new Medicare cost-cutting commission have been watered down.

-- An array of Medicare pilot projects aimed at paying doctors and hospitals for quality rather than quantity would take years to be implemented nationally -- if they ever were.

-- None of the bills addresses medical liability, even though the Congressional Budget Office has concluded that tort reform could save $54 billion over the next decade.

Both proposals would reduce costs but have little to do with fundamentally refashioning health care...

Ralph Neas, head of the nonpartisan National Coalition on Health Care, noted that "these bills do very little in terms of reining in long-term cost growth," adding: "There is not enough in the public sector and virtually none in the private sector."...

"Voluntary efforts are never enough," Neas said. "There has to be some way to make it enforceable."...

[Jim Noble]

It's interesting to me that many patients with chronic illnesses, and their lobby groups, hear "reduced costs" and think, "cool, more free stuff" when what "reduced costs" actually mean to the scum in charge is, "MS? Cancer? - tough break, you die".

Also note the constant use of "experts say", "critics argue", and "some say" as a way to validate Ceci Connolly's agenda.

[Man50D]

The costs are irrelevant! The only salient point is the fact any version of federal health care is unconstitutional since Article 1 Section 8 does not expressly grant Congress the power to regulate health care! This is the point people need to impress on their politicians!

[chainsaw]

Health Bills Too Timid on Cutting Costs, Experts Say: Proposals Make Only Trims...

Trim a little now, pass the bill at all cost. Trim more later. Revamp entire bill later when nobody is looking.