Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Will the President Get to Keep His Health-Reform Pitch?    [John R. Graham]

As James Capretta notes, President Obama is realizing that his message — namely, that his reform will not result in you losing your health plan or doctor, is losing credibility and he is scrambling to find a new one. The new one seems to be that “if we do nothing” you will lose your health coverage anyway, because rising costs will make it increasingly unaffordable to employers.

But this is an incredibly self-important statement. If by “we,” the president means himself and Congress, their “doing nothing” by refraining from a complete government take-over of health care doesn’t mean that every American is “doing nothing” about health costs.

In fact, many of us are doing a heck of a lot. According to the American Academy of Actuaries, the millions of us with “consumer-driven” health plans have experienced annual cost growth 3% to 5% less than traditional plans, for five years. Entrepreneurs have been opening up retail clinics for cash-paying patients. And medical brokers are facilitating patients’ travel to hospitals in Asia for surgery at much lower cost than in over-regulated U.S. hospitals.

“If we do nothing”? Speak for yourself, Mr. President.

— John R. Graham is director of Health Care Studies at the Pacific Research Institute.

06/23 06:05 PMShare