No fundamental change

The Washington Post chastises Obama for effusively praising the recently announced House health care bill (read it here).

In brief, the bill reduces the number of uninsured from 53 million to 17 million, at a cost of over $1 trillion over 10 years. The exact cost has yet to be determined by the Congressional Budget Office. About half of the cost is raised by taxing those with incomes over $350,000 per year. But the principle flaw, according to the Post, is that little is done to control health care costs. The Post quotes the director of the Congressional Budget Office:

As CBO Director Douglas Elmendorf told the Senate Budget Committee
yesterday, "In the legislation that has been reported we do not see the sort of
fundamental changes that would be necessary to reduce the trajectory of federal
health spending by a significant amount."

Without fundamental change reducing health care costs, the House version of health system reform is merely coverage, not waste elimination. It is therefore not sustainable and should be rejected. Mr. Obama is sadly mistaken if he believes that this bill will move health reform anywhere but backwards.

Nothing of substance is happening in Washington DC on health reform. Let's move forward with a plan in Utah.

Best,

Dr. Joe Jarvis
www.utahpatientspac.com