In his September 6 newsletter from the National Institute of Health Policy, former U.S. Senator David Durenberger (R-Minn.) reflected, as he often does, on the current state of U.S. health care:
"In a speech given here in Minnetonka, Minnesota late last month, it appears President Bush is traveling down two parallel tracks towards health system reform. One might get us there, the other won’t.
The President promoted good messages about better information, broad use of IT and standards, the need for quality and price transparency, and a pledge to think differently about how to fix healthcare.
He undermines these good messages, however, with his impassioned focus on tort reform, his unwavering promotion of HSAs and consumer choice as the answer to everything, and his suggestion that association health plans were an American ideal. ...
Every other developed country in the world has national health insurance systems in which the government strongly influences costs and payments. The U.S. system has always been pluralistic - powerful medical professions have prevented pay-for-performance comparisons, assured multiple choice of doctors and insurance, and complained continually about efforts of Medicare and Medicaid’s single-payer systems to influence their behavior.
The good news/bad news in America is that the battle against single payer healthcare is over and government-run health care is in terminal demise. The bad news is that the privatization of our health care financing means the financial services industry decides who gets what for how much. That is after they, their investors, and all the transactionists in the health services commodity markets have been paid. How does this make health care more affordable for all? And less dependent on tax revenue support?
It’s hard to see the answers from where we are today. The medical markets seem to be dis-integrating into ever more McSurgery, McUrgi, McMinute, and McMRI. Behind all that consumerism on the same-day illness margin are the big ticket items, the medical miracles, and the high-cost chronic illnesses. And if you and I aren’t paying for big tickets, then who is?"