September 4: Health Care Reform News
Inside Healthcare at the Mayo Clinic
"Good Morning America's" Robin Roberts visited the Mayo Clinic to find out more about what some people call a radically different approach to practicing medicine that aims to provide high level care at a lower price.
The Mayo Clinic also attributes its success to a team approach they call "integrated coordinated care." Doctors with different specialties work closely with each other on a patient's case and seem grateful for the extra support.
"Is it encouraging that if you don't know something you can ask…in other hospitals it's almost like they don't want to share information," Roberts asked Dr. Todd Baron, who specializes in endoscopies… "Exactly, it's very encouraging," Baron replied.
ABC Good Morning America by Robin Roberts, 09/04/09
The CBO's Dubious Health Care Cost Estimates
The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has warned that progressive proposals for reforming health care will add to the deficit that looms over our economy. But when you stop to think about it, just how likely is it that CBO can accurately predict the cost of health care reform—and the savings that it will generate-- over a ten year period? Virtually any economic predictions that attempt to go out ten years are, at best, guesstimates. Only a very foolish investor would attempt to project a single company’s earnings out over ten years: how can one “score” the effect of very complicated legislation on a $2.6 trillion industry?... The Mayo Clinic did not set out to save money. It set out to make sure that “the patient always comes first.” The savings followed because better care is cheaper. . In the end, what is required is not a financial formula, but a creative effort, by a community that says “It can be done. We can do it.”
Taking Note (Blog) by Maggie Mahar 09/03/09
TOP STORIES
Obama Aides Aim to Simplify and Scale Back Health Bills
The New York Times
September 4, 2009
White House officials look for ways to simplify and scale back the major Democratic heath bills, lower the cost and drop contentious but nonessential elements.
Obama Will Lay Out Specifics in Health Care Speech
The Washington Post
September 4, 2009
With President Obama poised to give a health care address Wednesday, administration officials promised he will deliver a detailed prescription for reform despite the risks of spelling out exactly where he stands.
Health Care Idea Has Public Plan Only as Backup
New York Times
September 4, 2009
White House officials are investigating a possible compromise under which the government would offer its own health plan only if private insurers failed to provide affordable coverage.
The Unwitting Birthplace of the ‘Death Panel’ Myth
The Washington Post - Gunderson Clinic in the news
September 4, 2009
La Crosse, Wisconsin often shows up on "best places to live" lists, but residents say it is also a good place to die which is how it landed in the center of a controversy that almost derailed health care reform this summer.
INSURANCE
Health Co-Ops’ Allure Could Prove Unrealistic on National Scale
Bloomberg Report - Minnesota HealthPartners in the news
September 4, 2009
The family doctor said he’s hooked on the consumer- governed, non-profit health cooperative where physicians aren’t beholden to shareholders and patient satisfaction drives decisions on care and costs.
TRANSPARENCY/SAFETY
Biden’s Speech about the Stimulus was Really about Health Care
Slate
September 4, 2009
By making Americans less nervous about the economy, the administration hopes to make them less nervous about health care reform.
WELLNESS/CHRONIC CARE
The Burden of Disease in the U.S. is a Drain on the Fiscal Health of the Nation
Health Populi
September 4, 2009
The total drain on the U.S. GDP for eleven of the most prominent chronic health conditions is over $1 trillion annually.
STATE NEWS
California Leaders Back Health Program
The New York Times
September 4, 2009
Dismayed by the number of poor children about to be dropped from a publicly subsidized health insurance program, California lawmakers voted to levy a tax on insurance companies to help maintain the program.
REFORM EFFORTS
Democrats Target High Earners to Help Fund Health Plan
The Wall Street Journal
September 4, 2009
Senate Democrats are revisiting proposals to raise taxes on high-income people to help pay for an overhaul of the health care system.
Nancy Pelosi: No Public Option, No Bill
Politico
September 4, 2009
In her strongest statement yet, Pelosi said that any bill "without a strong public option will not pass the House".
White House Signals Openness to Health Compromise
The Washington Post
September 4, 2009
Even as liberals urge President Barack Obama to demand bold, far-reaching changes to the nation's health care system, the White House signaled openness Thursday to compromises that might attract moderate congressional Democrats as well as some Republicans.
Obama Pressed on Details of Plan
The Wall Street Journal
September 4, 2009
A key Republican wants President Barack Obama to consider a more incremental approach on health care when he addresses Congress next week, while Vice President Joe Biden said the administration is still pressing for "something substantial."
Gang of Six Gives it One More Try
Politico
September 4, 2009
Most top Democrats, including senior White House advisers, may no longer expect a health care deal out of the bipartisan “Group of Six,” but the senators still plan to talk Friday for the first time as a group in more than two weeks.
White House’s New Health Care Pitch
Politico
September 4, 2009
The lesson of 1994 is not that tackling health reform is politically perilous; it’s that failing to act could be devastating.
Health Care Lobbyists Target Returning Congress
The Washington Post
September 4, 2009
Interest groups are unleashing a torrent of modern and old-fashioned lobbying tactics at members of Congress returning for the autumn battle over health care.
EMPLOYERS
The Los Angeles Times
September 4, 2009
Obama's health care agenda turns out to be a deal that usually red-state Wal-Mart has decided to buy into.
Health Care Divides Small Business Community
CNN Money
September 4, 2009
Congressional efforts to revamp the country's health care system have sparked a fierce debate within the small business community.
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