June 5, 2009
Those outside groups and interested parties who have held their fire in the health-care debate while waiting for the details to emerge — well, there really is no excuse now. Everyone should know what is coming. On Tuesday, President Obama sent a letter to Senators Kennedy and Baucus outlining what kind of bill he wants and will...
May 30, 2009
OMB director Peter Orszag continues to talk as if the Obama administration has presented a credible plan to control health-care costs in their push for expanded coverage. Today, in a new post at OMB’s website, Orszag again highlights for his readers how great things would be if, in fact, health-care costs slowed down. And, of...
May 27, 2009
Last week, Representatives Paul Ryan and David Devin Nunes, and Senators Tom Coburn and Richard Burr, introduced a comprehensive Republican health-carereform plan, called the Patients’ Choice Act (PCA). By and large, their plan has been well-received among conservatives (see, for instance, this op-edin theWall Street Journalby...
May 22, 2009
The most recent issue of National Review magazine is devoted to health-care issues and the reform debate. There are pieces by Regina Herzlinger on why sensible reform is necessary; John Goodman on the failures of socialized systems; and Michael Cannon on why the Democratic reforms plans won’t work. A full listing of the...
May 22, 2009
Last week, I was interviewed for two segments of NRO-TV’s “Off the Page.” The first segment, available here, is focused on the health industry’s pledge to cut $2 trillion from health spending over the coming decade — and my deep skepticism that they actually have the power to do any such thing. In the second...
May 21, 2009
It’s been apparent for some time that the biggest obstacle in the way of Congressional passage of the kind of sweeping health-care plan most Democrats favor is paying for it. As recently as Sunday, OMB director Peter Orszag again pledged that whatever bill emerges won’t add to the federal budget deficit over the next decade....
May 21, 2009
So much confusion, so little time. Let’s start with OMB director Peter Orszag’s blog entry from last week on the 2009 Medicare Trustees’ report. In it, he suggested that Medicare’s financial problems really aren’t related to the retirement of 78 million baby boomers. No, he asserted, the problem is...
May 19, 2009
Last week, I had the pleasure of participating in a panel discussion on the latest Medicare Trustees’ report at AEI. Rick Foster, the Chief Actuary for Medicare, presented the latest estimates, which were followed by comments from Mark McClellan, Joth Rother of AARP, myself, and former House Ways and Means Chairman Bill Thomas. I...
May 14, 2009
Today, Senate Finance Committe Chairman Max Baucus is meeting privately with the other members of the committee to begin considering options for universal coverage. The slides they are using to guide their discussion (available here in PDF format) contain many worrisome ideas which would make our problems worse, not better. I will more...
May 14, 2009
As previously noted, today Senate Finance Committee chairman Max Baucus is meeting with the other members of the committee to discuss options for expanding insurance coverage. The slides they are using to guide their discussion (available here in PDF format) are illuminating to say the least. Among other things, they indicate that the...