A look at a reformed health care system
President Obama wants to stem the skyrocketing cost of health care and fix the system. But what might a new health care system look like? Steve Henn reports.
President Barack Obama speaks during the opening session of the White House's forum on health care reform in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C. (Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)
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Tess Vigeland: Today President Barack Obama held a health care summit at the White House. It was an attempt to deal with one of this country's most intractable problems. A byzantine, expensive, and often ineffective health care system. Fixing that system has been a stated priority for previous administrations -- not much has happened. Marketplace's Steve Henn looks at the chances for real reform this time around.
STEVE HENN: When President Obama talks about the country's health care, two issues come up: 43 million Americans are uninsured, and the staggering price.
PRESIDENT BARACK OBAMA: By a wide margin the biggest threat to our nation's balance sheet is the skyrocketing cost of health care -- it's not even close. That's why we cannot delay this discussion any longer.
The president said today all reform options except inaction are on the table. But most observers agree Obama's unlikely to propose a government-run, single-payer system. Instead, we're likely to see a hybrid.
JOHN SHIELS: You know, I think that's where people are headed.
John Shiels is a health policy analyst at the Lewin Group and not a fan.
SHIELS: They would actually build on the parts of the health care system that perform the most poorly right now.
Shields says that includes expanding Medicaid. He estimates the president's health care proposals would raise health care costs by $40 billion, but the number of uninsured would fall by half. Advocates say the key will be making health care more efficient. Pay providers for patient outcomes instead of for procedures and require more people to buy coverage.
Joseph Antos is a health policy expert at the American Enterprise Institute.
JOSEPH ANTOS: This is a big ship. This isn't a rowboat. So we're not going to be able to change the course of this big ship very quickly.
Antos says the goal of health care reform should be to take our lumbering, dysfunctional system and change course slowly. Plug the holes and work over time to bring costs down.
In Washington, I'm Steve Henn for Marketplace.
Comments
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From Clinton, WA, 03/06/2009
Why doesn't anyone talk about *why* the cost of health care is rising so fast? We hear that insurance companies aren't making a big profit and that doctors are barely making a living, so why is the cost going up so fast? Its all a waste of time if we try to "contain" cost without understanding what is driving the increase.
03/06/2009
Like any other purchase, getting rid of the middlemen--the insurance companies--would help, at the expense of the jobs they create.
But, if you want to see single payer health care, check out the Veteran's Administration, and how they handle politically sensitive health care, such as Agent Orange, Persian Gulf War Syndrome, PTSD, and other sufferers. Have these soldiers been treated well, or shuffled under the carpet?
Would that occur in civilian medicine, with other political hot potatoes, such as AIDS care, birth control, etc?
03/05/2009
Yes, where do I email to get across to Obama that Senior Citizens really don't complain about medicare (except for the drug exception designed by the Republicans)and we should just expand medicare to include us all. If it's good enough for my grandparents, it's good enough for the rest of us.
From Mount Kisco, NY, 03/05/2009
I was disheartened to hear the interview with the CEO of Aetna on health care reform. Why can't we have a representation of ideas about health care reform which entertains the radical notion of single payer (that is our government) universal health care. A sign of this is that representatives of Physicians for a National Health Plan were invited to today's meeting on health car e reform only AFTER a concerted write0in campaign.You are already contributing to an assumption of the survival of the private health insurer. What about the marketplace of ideas?
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