Monday
Mar092009
Obama walks the walk
Monday, March 9, 2009 at 9:11AM
Who can forget the mess that had various names during the 1993 "Health Care that is Always There" campaign during the Clinton administration? There were committees, closed meetings, congressional testimony by the first lady and more than 1,000 pages of a fairly complex plan that everyone thought was a way to expand government and a complete boondoggle for the insurance companies. What is most memorable about the health care plan of the early '90s is the anti-Clinton health care ads known as "Harry and Louise" and separately, the damage done by Ira Magaziner, the health care Czar hired by the Clinton White House
and the man now considered to be the sole "bad guy" of what went wrong.
Nowhere was the "bad guy" image of Ira Magaziner more evident than at last Thursday's Health Care Summit at the White House. In just one breakout session, Democrats and Republicans pilloried him twice. This time is different; it is not 1993, and there is no Ira Magaziner. It was only bipartisan President Obama who made sure all viewpoints were included in the summit. There were liberals galore but also conservatives including the National Federation of Independent Business, or NFIB, PhRMA's Billy Tauzin, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's
Tom Donahue, and Sen. Mitch McConnell. I just sat there in wonderment. Except for the months following Sept.11, I did not see any bipartisan effort on the part of Bush White House. It was never was going to happen and never did happen. Wow, I thought, President Obama is really walking the walk here.
Not only is the president walking the walk, but, apparently, so are some members of Congress. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said that Rep. George Miller urged every committee chair to have Republicans in the room as partners. Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., said we will join hands and go all the way to the finish line, and Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, said if it means overturning sacred cows, then "we must do it."
Some great ideas emerged, but one thing is clear: Everyone knows the time has come to tackle health care. From a strictly economic standpoint, AARP estimates that there were 600,000 "medical tourists" leaving the United States last year to get treatment out of the country. That's a ton of money leaving our hospitals and clinics. The big surprise is that this conference was not a "dump on government party" by the Republicans. Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said that the beauty of why Medicare Part D has worked is that it was the first time government organized a medical program rather than running it, and it has worked. Competition remained, people have been able to change providers, and it has been delivered at a much lower cost than anyone thought it would be.
There were areas of strong consensus, and I sat in amazement that these political animals were willing to broaden their scope and not just think of the next election cycle. Pretty much everyone agreed that data collection and dissemination was going to be a strong key to changing the health care system. Eric Whitaker from the University of Chicago Medical School said, "The importance of data is not an easy thing to do, it is not sexy and you can't cut a ribbon for data." Others listed all the benefits of gathering information and then putting that data on the Web. Infection rates at hospitals go down as soon as that data is published. Why? Doctors and nurses start to wash their hands more when the infection rates get published. No one wants to work at a hospital that has a lousy reputation. Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., said states need to be made to disclose the health care data that is already collected. What a novel idea! Government collects the data, and the citizens get to see it!
Of course, there were some of the usual expected arguments such as the need to reduce liability, but there were novel ideas presented by knowledgeable Republicans. One way to reduce re-hospitalization is to get someone back to the primary care physician within five days of discharge from a hospital; having the government set up a model for disseminating the collected information was another. Ideas were flying fast, and while there was not full agreement, there was no rancor. But the comment of the day went to Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., who said with partisanship in play you can get a bill passed in Congress, but it will not be the best bill. To have the best bill everyone has to be involved and have a stake. Amen, Rep. McKeon.
and the man now considered to be the sole "bad guy" of what went wrong.
Nowhere was the "bad guy" image of Ira Magaziner more evident than at last Thursday's Health Care Summit at the White House. In just one breakout session, Democrats and Republicans pilloried him twice. This time is different; it is not 1993, and there is no Ira Magaziner. It was only bipartisan President Obama who made sure all viewpoints were included in the summit. There were liberals galore but also conservatives including the National Federation of Independent Business, or NFIB, PhRMA's Billy Tauzin, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce's
Tom Donahue, and Sen. Mitch McConnell. I just sat there in wonderment. Except for the months following Sept.11, I did not see any bipartisan effort on the part of Bush White House. It was never was going to happen and never did happen. Wow, I thought, President Obama is really walking the walk here.
Not only is the president walking the walk, but, apparently, so are some members of Congress. Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said that Rep. George Miller urged every committee chair to have Republicans in the room as partners. Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., said we will join hands and go all the way to the finish line, and Sen. Robert Bennett, R-Utah, said if it means overturning sacred cows, then "we must do it."
Some great ideas emerged, but one thing is clear: Everyone knows the time has come to tackle health care. From a strictly economic standpoint, AARP estimates that there were 600,000 "medical tourists" leaving the United States last year to get treatment out of the country. That's a ton of money leaving our hospitals and clinics. The big surprise is that this conference was not a "dump on government party" by the Republicans. Rep. Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said that the beauty of why Medicare Part D has worked is that it was the first time government organized a medical program rather than running it, and it has worked. Competition remained, people have been able to change providers, and it has been delivered at a much lower cost than anyone thought it would be.
There were areas of strong consensus, and I sat in amazement that these political animals were willing to broaden their scope and not just think of the next election cycle. Pretty much everyone agreed that data collection and dissemination was going to be a strong key to changing the health care system. Eric Whitaker from the University of Chicago Medical School said, "The importance of data is not an easy thing to do, it is not sexy and you can't cut a ribbon for data." Others listed all the benefits of gathering information and then putting that data on the Web. Infection rates at hospitals go down as soon as that data is published. Why? Doctors and nurses start to wash their hands more when the infection rates get published. No one wants to work at a hospital that has a lousy reputation. Rep. Nathan Deal, R-Ga., said states need to be made to disclose the health care data that is already collected. What a novel idea! Government collects the data, and the citizens get to see it!
Of course, there were some of the usual expected arguments such as the need to reduce liability, but there were novel ideas presented by knowledgeable Republicans. One way to reduce re-hospitalization is to get someone back to the primary care physician within five days of discharge from a hospital; having the government set up a model for disseminating the collected information was another. Ideas were flying fast, and while there was not full agreement, there was no rancor. But the comment of the day went to Rep. Buck McKeon, R-Calif., who said with partisanship in play you can get a bill passed in Congress, but it will not be the best bill. To have the best bill everyone has to be involved and have a stake. Amen, Rep. McKeon.
Reader Comments (2)
Just a tad more on the cynical side toward the Congressional GOP on health care than is justified by the factual history.
Yes, it was these "dump-on-government" Republicans who gave senior citizens Medicare prescription drug coverage, after the "bipartisan" Democratic Congress had failed to do so despite 50 years of promises.
Yep, Tom DeLay, Tom Bliley, Bill Archer, Hatch of Utah, with bipartisan cooperation across the aisle until the Democrats tried to make a campaign issue by trying to convince seniors to look at the hole and not the donut.
Let's not forget SCHIP either. Also a Republican creation. Unfortunately, Junior didn't know the history either, or appreciate it.
Republicans extended Medicare coverage for diabetic testing supplies. You have any idea how many million people we saved from suffering with that? And how much we saved, helping people get control over their diabetes, rather than paying for amputations and physical rehabilitation?
Republicans were the ones who sped up the process for approvals of new medicines and medical devices. Before the GOP went to work, people HAD to go to Europe to get the safe and effective medicines they needed to stay alive....while our own FDA foot-dragged under a bureaucratic logjam. It not only hurt patients, it cost money and needlessly raised the price of medicines.
It was Republican Pete Domenici who gave patients suffering from mental health problems the same coverage for hospitalizations and care that we get for phyisical problems -- mental health parity.
And it was Republicans who ensured health care portability. Yes, it's hard to afford even the reduced coverage your ex-employer could get, but at least you have an option now. And in many states, under Republican Governors and Legislators, we've restricted the insurance companies in limiting pre-existing conditions.
I'm proud of that record, and that I was privileged to be there when most of it happened. It was one of the great adventures of my life, and it helped a lot of people.
If a bipartisan, country-first, patients-first approach on health care from Republicans surprised you,it means you haven't taken the time to learn the record.
Mike Collins
...oh, and how could I neglect to mention Bill Thomas, and Mike Bilarakis, and so many others?