Ailing economy makes every day a struggle

Senators Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and Byron Dorgan (D-ND) held a press conference today on “Making the American Dream More Affordable.” Reid said that Republicans are preventing progress on making higher education more affordable and improving social security and Medicaid. Dorgan said that the economy is “sick” and that the minority in the Senate keeps saying no to the necessary changes Democrats wants to make.

Treena Walker, an office cleaner and single mother, said that she struggles to provide for her children, unable to pay for all of the food, gas, and healthcare her family requires. Sadie Coleman, a senior member of the Alliance for Retired Americans, said that she struggles to pay for her medications and that she has seen friends cut pills in half to make medications last longer. Sheila Isong, a recent graduate of the University of Pittsburgh, said that she has overwhelming student loan debt and hopes that the Democrats can make real changes to make high education more affordable.

Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), said that the Senate is mere votes away from passing legislation to ease economic woes, but that the minority is preventing progress

Reduced Medicaid funding may diminish emergency response

The Congressional Committee on Oversight and Government Reform held the second of a two-day hearing on “the impact of the Administration’s Medicaid regulations on the ability of our nation’s emergency rooms to respond to a sudden influx of casualties from a terrorist attack,” said Chairman Henry Waxman (D-CA). Waxman said that based on the first hearing, he was concerned about trauma centers that have “little or no surge capacity.” He said that the Bush Administration’s plans to cut Medicaid funding for hospitals would make trauma centers even more incapable of responding to a large-scale emergency situation similar to Hurricane Katrina, the Minneapolis bridge collapse, the Madrid train bombings, or other potential threats.

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Michael Leavitt agreed with the Chairman that emergency response system was inadequate, but said that Medicaid funding was not the correct tool with which to fix the problem. He said that Medicaid’s first priority is to provide health care for “low-income seniors, children, pregnant women, and people with disabilities,” and not to support institutions. He said that Medicaid “should not become a limitless account for State and local programs and agencies to draw Federal funds for non-Medicaid purposes,” and that “allowing for the continuation of abusive practices of shifting costs to the Federal government is not the appropriate way to ensure our nation’s preparedness.”

U.S. Department of Homeland Security Michael Chertoff agreed with Leavitt, and said that there is no guarantee that Medicaid funds would be spent on emergency response.

Dr. Peter Orszag Shares Congressional Budget Office's Findings Regarding Health Care Spending With the Senate Budget Committee

Dr. Peter Orszag, Director of the Congressional Budget Office (CBO), testified today before the Senate Budget Committee regarding the crisis generated by increasing health care costs.

In testimony that Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) called “sobering,” Dr. Orszag displayed CBO’s projections that health care spending could double by 2035 and become 20% of the economy by 2082 should current policies and practices remain in place. He stated that such high expenditures cannot be allowed to take place.

CBO’s analysis finds that non-Medicare, non-Medicaid health care costs are rising at alarming rates, due in large part to rapid expansion in medical technologies and capabilities; that is, the variety of care continues to increase, expanding costs. Other factors contributing to this increase include increased incidence of obesity, spending per obese person, aging of the population, and industry incentives to provide more health care regardless of quality.

Dr. Orszag highlighted extreme expenditure differences across regions and examples of some hospitals spending up to twice as much as others for the same treatment. He that in his research he had been faced with the ironic question, “How can the best medical care in the world cost twice as much as the best medical care in the world?”

Given the severity of the consequences of inaction, Chairman Kent Conrad (D-ND) and ranking member Judd Gregg (R-NH) shared their intention of going to mark-up on a proposal to resolve this crisis in a bipartisan fashion.