Back to the Future! Pelosi Calls Insurers “Villains”

Like we didn't know it would get to this.This from Speaker Nancy Pelosi’s news conference yesterday:"The public option--that's where the insurance companies are making their attacks-––it's almost immoral what they are doing. Of course they've been immoral all along. They are villains in this, they have been part of the problem in a major way. They are doing everything in their power to stop a

Health Care Reform Coming Out of Senate Finance?

We’ve been getting lots of news these past few days leading to optimism that a bipartisan health care bill will soon emerge from discussions between the “Coalition of the Willing.” That term refers to the three Republicans and three Democrats trying to find common ground in the Senate Finance Committee.First, let me be clear that I have the greatest respect for Senators Baucus and Grassley and

A Health Insurance Premium Tax Would be a Chicken Tax

The Congress has looked at taxing about everyone and everything to pay for half the cost of a health care bill.They’ve considered sugary soft drinks, beer, “millionaires,” and “gold plated” health benefits to name a few. Every time they come up with one it gets shot down by the interests it would offend.First, as I have asked on this blog before, why do we need to use at least $500 billion in new

What It Would Take to Really Make America's Health Care Costs Affordable and Sustainable

Most health care experts agree the reason our system is so unaffordable is because of all of the waste and unnecessary care—up to 30% of what we spend.I will suggest that it will take the genius of individual creativity to separate the 70% of this health care system that is the best in the world from the 30% that is waste.So far, the Congress has focused more on entitlement expansion then

Health Care Reform Should Mean Health Care Reform--A Proposal for Real Change

CMS says that we will spend 17% of GDP on health care this year and we are on our way to having 22% of our GDP being spent for health care by 2018.The stated goal of the President and all of the Congressional health care reformers is to accomplish health care reform and have it be deficit neutral.Deficit neutral means we wouldn't reduce our costs one bit. We would have no assurances that we would