Waxman to push ‘09 health care reform

By Sean Lengell
The Washington Times
January 30, 2009

The top House lawmaker in charge of writing health care legislation said Thursday he is committed to passing a universal health care package by the end of the year…

“This is our time, we need to move forward, we need to get this job accomplished this year and get the bill to the president,” said House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry A. Waxman at a conference sponsored by Families USA…

“The economic times which are so difficult is another reason why we need to do it right away,” he told reporters after his speech. “The health of our economy depends on a great extent on our dealing with the health of our health care system.”

But Mr. Waxman said private insurers would play a significant role in the implementation of universal health coverage, adding that relying solely on a Canadian or European-style single-payer system is unrealistic in the United States.

“Reform in the health care system to achieve universal coverage has to come by building on the system that is in place – adjusting it, improving it to fill the gaps,” he said. “I believe we must have a significant role for private insurance, but I think it’s critically important that we have a public [health care] program alternative.”

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2009/jan/30/waxman-to-push-09-health-care-reform/

House Majority Whip James Clyburn (D-S.C.), obviously an insider, recently confused observers of the Washington scene by stating that health care reform would be incremental. This appeared to conflict with the position of other important players – Barack Obama, Tom Daschle, Ted Kennedy, Max Baucus, Pete Stark, amongst others – who have indicated that comprehensive reform would be as expeditious as possible – presumably this year or early 2010 at the very latest. The statement by Henry Waxman seems to confirm the fact that the House of Representatives is aligned with the Senate and The White House to move forward expeditiously with comprehensive reform.

They are also aligned on the position that single payer is unrealistic, and that reform will be based on private insurance. There is still confusion as to whether there is agreement that a public option must be a Medicare-like program, or if the public option would be satisfied by a pool of FEHBP-type private plans. The Republicans, AHIP, and the USCOC have said that the former is a non-starter, so the public option may well end up being just more private insurance in disguise.

If a U.S. model based on private plans were as effective as the Swiss and Dutch systems, it would still leave about 7,600,000 individuals without insurance, which certainly tests the definition of universal. With much higher health care spending in the United States, the premiums for private plans, even with generous subsidies, certainly would test the definition of affordability. U.S.-style private plans, designed to enhance business success by creating patient barriers to care and payment for care, certainly tests the definition of social insurance.

Maybe James Clyburn did let slip the dark secret of the Washington reformers. If we were to continue with only incremental reforms, we would end up with a system that will leave many without insurance, that will leave health care unaffordable for many more, and that will leave in place an industry that takes away health care access and choice to further its own financial interests. Hmmm… Looks like another con job. Go the incremental route, but call it universal.