Posted on 11/06/2009 10:40:10 AM PST by Sub-Driver
Robert Reich: ObamaCare Won't Cut Costs OR Improve Health Care By Noel Sheppard Created 2009-11-06 13:25
Former Clinton Labor Secretary and current Obama economic adviser Robert Reich believes healthcare legislation currently being debated on Capitol Hill "won't offer most Americans any appreciable decline in the cost of their health insurance nor clear improvement in the efficiency or quality of the health care they receive."
Contrary to what President Obama, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, and their media minions are shamefully telling the public, the current bill results in "extra costs [that] will be borne by those Americans who will be required to buy insurance but won't qualify for federal assistance, along with Medicare beneficiaries who will be paying more and receiving less."
Maybe more importantly given Friday's announcement that the nation's unemployment rate jumped to 10.2 percent in October, Reich believe's President Obama is doing America a disservice by focusing all his attention on healthcare reform instead of trying to create jobs.
Although Reich posted this at his blog on Sunday, I could find no major media references to his rather startling commentary [1] (h/t Glenn Reynolds [2]):
I sincerely hope America gets genuine health reform and I hope it's stronger than what's emerging in the Senate...I worry, though, that Obama's strategy may turn out to be a mistake comparable to Clinton's overemphasis on deficit reduction. Obama's focus on health care rather than jobs, when the economy is still so fragile and unemployment moving toward double digits, could make it appear that the administration has its priorities confused. While affordable health care is critically important to Americans, making a living is more urgent. Yet the administration's efforts to date on this more basic concern have been neither particularly visible nor coherent.
The current rate of unemployment would have been even higher were it not for the federal stimulus package, but the stimulus should have been much larger. Especially with the states still cutting back on spending and raising taxes, the federal stimulus will be barely enough to keep unemployment from hitting 11 percent by the middle of 2010. Yet as the rate of unemployment continued to rise faster and higher than the White House anticipated, Obama could not return to Congress to seek a larger stimulus. He was spending political capital on health care. [...]
While health care reform, if done right, can help American families stay afloat in the economy, the current bills won't offer most Americans any appreciable decline in the cost of their health insurance nor clear improvement in the efficiency or quality of the health care they receive, and those who will benefit won't see the benefits until 2014 at the earliest. [...]
That and other deals cut with industry -- including promises to Big Pharma that Medicare wouldn't use its bargaining clout to reduce drug prices, to the AMA that doctors wouldn't have to face larger cuts in Medicare reimbursement rates, and to private insurers that the White House wouldn't fight hard for a public insurance option -- are likely to make the resulting reform far more costly than it would be otherwise. These extra costs will be borne by those Americans who will be required to buy insurance but won't qualify for federal assistance, along with Medicare beneficiaries who will be paying more and receiving less. These people may not know they're indirectly paying the costs of buying off these industries, but they'll know they're getting shafted (Republicans will be sure to make them aware, even though the GOP has a much longer record of shafting the middle class for the benefit of big business). [...]
If Obama and the Democrats lose one or both houses of Congress in the midterms, it will be because the president learned only the most superficial lesson of the Clinton years. Health-care reform is critically important. But when one out of six Americans is unemployed or underemployed, getting the nation back to work is more so.
Although I don't agree with Reich's stimulus ideas, his point about job creation being far more important than healthcare reform at this time in history is spot on.
That ObamaCare-loving media choose to ignore such logic is totally mind-boggling.
So he’s not a complete shill....
Refreshing
Maybe WE should hire him to be OUR spokesman!
.....or....is it simply a case of the old saying that even a broken clock is right twice a day?
Paging, Mr Obvious!
It’s just gonna be another kitty to steal from...like SS, Medicare, Medicaid...and like those, the “contributions” by taxpayers will always go up and up and up......
Maybe Robert B Reishhhhhhhhh...uh, has had an epiphany.
So is this THE Robert
Ryyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy-SHA?
Hard to believe it is
Maybe not, my guess is either he or a family member has health issues that will put him at the back of the line or "they" will not spend money on once they get total control.
In that case, he might not be our cup of tea poltically, but he loves life....
He is an advocate of Canadian-style single payer and is not shy about saying so. No doubt he is disappointed that is not what they are voting on.
Rats jumping off a sinking ship.
there is also a widely circulated clip of him at an academic conference two years ago saying that we should withold expensive treatment from the elderly and let them die.
Reich is a shill for Clinton. He’s setting up for Hillary to challenge obama in 2012. He staunchly defended Obama up until now. But now there’s blood in the water after tuesday. The clintons will pounce.
Popcorn!
The major media is your enemy.......shop around judiciously for your information. I don't normally watch the major TV networks but I have been baby sitting and had to watch the ABCNBCCBSCNN stations and was horrified at the spin and bias. I have decided to watch at least a half-hour each evening to keep abreast of the lies and also to know what advertisers to avoid.
“Reich is a shill for Clinton. He’s setting up for Hillary to challenge obama in 2012”
that was my first reaction......
Obama, if you’ve lost this little prick, you’re in serious trouble.
Let’s get real here though. Reicccccccccch says this because it’s not leftist enough, not because it’s too leftist.
Isn’t this the same midget who said not to hire white men with stimulus money? He wants more socialized medicine - not the “watered down” version he sees coming out of congress...he’s still a puke
actually it will RAISE costs, and worsen care.
Even a broken clock is right twice a day.
Maybe it could be modified to only anglos had to pay.
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