Re: OT: Heath Care (for Linus)


"Lon VanOstran" <RVnFT@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:58sm19F2idli6U1@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
JerryD(upstateNY) wrote:
ANYTHING the Federal Government does is over staffed and full of
inefficiencies, graft, and incompetence.

The left screams about government inefficiencies in Iraq, Katrina, the
Veterans Administration, etc, but wants the government to take over the
country's health care which is 20% of our economy.


The left only screams about government inefficiencies when a Republican
is in the White House. They believe that leftist crooks can run things
better than Republican crooks.

They will never grasp the fact that government, by nature, is evil
because only evil men would seek such power.

Lon


Here's an interesting article from today's OpinionJournal:


Competence Man
The Dr. McClellan Medicare cure.

BY KIMBERLEY A. STRASSEL
Friday, April 20, 2007 12:01 a.m. EDT

Republicans won a big victory this week, shooting down a Democratic plan for
more government-run health care. The GOP victors, and free-marketeers, might
send their thank-you notes to Dr. Mark McClellan.

Dr. McClellan is the 43-year-old internist who, until recently, held the
thankless job of running Medicare. He was handed the further thankless task
of designing and implementing Congress's tepid 2003 Medicare reform. And
he's the big brain who then wrung every last ounce out of that authority to
create a striking new model for Medicare competition that is today not only
performing beyond expectations, but is changing the political health-care
debate.

High praise, yes, but borne out by this week's GOP defeat of a bill to allow
the government to fix Medicare drug prices. That was a top Democratic
promise this last election, as the party sought to play off public anger
over health-care costs. Liberals saw it as an important step toward their
all-government, health-care nirvana. Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid also felt
this was an issue on which they could once again roll Republicans, by
flashing the impoverished-senior-citizens card.

Instead, Dr. McClellan's new model came online and wowed the older class.
Private companies have flocked to offer a drug benefit, giving most seniors
a choice of 50 innovative plans. The competitive jockeying has slashed
prices from an expected $37-a-month premium to an average $22. The cost of
Medicare Part D for taxpayers was 30% below expectations its first
year--unheard of in government. And Medicare Advantage, which allows seniors
to choose between private insurers, has grown to encompass nearly one in
five beneficiaries.


This success has rebutted Democratic criticisms of the drug benefit and
shown up those who tar the Bush administration as incompetent. The program's
success emboldened Republicans to vote for free-market health care this
week. Democrats have seen flagging public support for their program of more
government and fewer drugs. While Mr. Reid held his caucus together this
week, some are worried about bashing a drug benefit that has an 80% senior
approval rating. "Congress only wishes it had an 80% approval rating,"
chuckles former Democratic Sen. John Breaux, an author of the 2003 reform.

"A lot of folks campaigned last year on 'We're going to fix this program,'
only to be told by seniors, 'Wait a minute, it ain't broke.'"

None of this was inevitable, but goes back to the competent Dr. McClellan.
President Bush came to town pushing Medicare reform, and had a shot at an
historic overhaul. The GOP could offer the carrot of a new drug benefit, in
return for opening the entire decrepit program to private competition.
Instead, Bush and Co. became more interested in claiming credit for an $8
trillion entitlement, and settled for meager reform.

Dr. McClellan nonetheless took this pared-down opportunity and used it to
show private competition can work. His success, in particular with the drug
benefit, rests in two broad ideas. The first was to design a program that
immediately attracted a critical mass of private players to provide price
and choice competition. At the time, nobody thought that possible. Mr.
Breaux remembers Congress worrying that so few private players would
participate that whole areas of the country would lack private drug plans.

Dr. McClellan's solution was a program that gave companies maximum freedom
to design plans, bundle drugs and turn a profit. He was a salesman, talking
up the opportunities and even traveling to New York to reassure Wall Street.
It worked, and by the first days of business most seniors were being courted
by anywhere from 11 to 23 plan sponsors. Those numbers have only grown,
creating so much competition that sponsors are eliminating deductibles,
lowering premiums, offering more drugs. It's also led to smart cost-cutting
and efficiencies; an estimated 60% of Medicare prescriptions are now for
generics.

Dr. McClellan's other strategy--and the flip side of the coin--was to get
seniors enrolled quickly. His team designed an Internet program that allowed
seniors to punch in their information and examine the best plans. His agency
reached out to local organizations--church groups, community centers--and
enlisted their aid in explaining details. A call center at one point handled
400,000 plan questions a day. Today, some 90% of Medicare recipients are
enrolled in the benefit, numbers that have further attracted private
players, further spurred competition, further lowered prices. "This is how
you come in under budget, increase satisfaction," says the man himself, Dr.
McClellan. He adds, humbly, "Nobody should think this is perfect yet, but
it's clearly accomplishing some good things."

Good things or no, the reforms are still at risk. There was a time when
Democrats believed in Medicare reform, but now most prefer it as a political
stick to beat President Bush. There are also liberals--Henry Waxman, Pete
Stark--who understand this is a crucial moment in the national debate over
government-versus-private health care, and will do what they can to sabotage
the reforms.


Expect, therefore, more votes over Medicare's right to price-fix. If a broad
bill can't pass, liberal politicians will instead target individual,
high-cost drugs, arguing that since Medicare foots most of the bill for
these products, it should have the right to "negotiate." The real goal will
be to get any foot in the price-setting door, making it harder for private
companies to craft flexible drug packages, and laying the groundwork for
more price-setting down the road.

Expect, too, a push to starve the competitive programs of cash. Critics know
how effective this is, having siphoned dollars out of the old Medicare
Advantage program in the 1990s, causing private plans to drop out, and
giving the program a bad name. Dr. McClellan's reforms, and a Republican
Congress, have re-energized the program, but the key to future success is in
the budget. Republicans would do well to spend more time touting the
competition successes of the reform, rather than the drug giveaway.

In a perfect world, the Bush administration would never have swallowed that
entitlement in the first place. In our imperfect world, it at least had the
wisdom to hand the reform challenge to a guy who was able to demonstrate the
merits of health-care competition, and optimistically, pave the way for
broader reform down the road.
-------------------------------------------------------------
Ms. Strassel is a member of The Wall Street Journal's editorial board, based
in Washington. Her column appears Fridays.





.

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