Former South Dakota Senator Tom Daschle is scheduled to speak today at the Democratic National Convention in Denver, no doubt in recognition of his early and vocal support for the presidential candidacy of Illinois Senator Barack Obama.
In recent months, Daschle has let it be known that he is interested in more than just helping the campaign: he may want to lead the health care effort in an Obama administration.
That being the case, it’s worth asking: What is Daschle’s health care vision?
He is known in health care circles for his longtime support for establishing a new regulatory structure for health care, modeled on the Federal Reserve Board for banking. Daschle thinks such a board would be ideal in health care because it would be insulated from political pressure, thus protecting health decisions from political micro-management.
But what is not reassuring is that such a board would have enormous power and little accountability. Political insulation means the board could decide that all insurance offered in the country will no longer cover a certain service or product, and the public would have little recourse to reverse the decision. That seems to be the worst of all worlds in terms of government-run health care.
All of this and more is covered in a piece posted today at National Review Online, available here.