“Uniquely American” is Code for Killing Healthcare Reform

Just like “All American” type gal-Friday or receptionist was code for discrimination in employment advertisements a few decades ago, so is “Uniquely American” code for preventing a Medicare for all government option for individual health insurance. Opposition politicians have uniformly adopted the need for a uniquely American approach to healthcare reform when the “this is not the time” delaying campaign failed to gain momentum.

President Obama responded to the calls for delay by light heartedly saying it is not the time for healthcare reform during good times, bad times, peace times and war times. It is never the right time regardless of the economy. The President also recognized that private insurers feared competing with a government run plan, but did not concede. The President called for a prominent role for private insurers while not allowing them to promote the government option as a path to Canadian and European style healthcare. Both sides excelled at fine tuning their rhetoric.

Everyone fronted a positive attitude at Thursday’s White House Healthcare Summit. The private insurers agreed to eliminate their underwriting practices if everyone was mandated to carry health insurance, and the government subsidized the purchase of insurance from only private carriers. Doctors and Hospitals did not want a further “cram down” of reimbursements from an expansion of Medicare to people under 65, but claimed they wanted to be part of the solution. Pharmaceutical company supported politicians were concerned about comparative drug benefits without adequate clinical studies. Everyone had a positive-but attitude.

I was enthusiastically surprised with Obama’s determination to pass healthcare reform this year. He clearly stated that now is precisely the time for change and that the country does not have too much on its plate. Now that delay is not an option, all the players are jockeying for position and the President is giving them enough rope to hang themselves before he moves in for the kill. Perhaps I was wrong in underestimating Obama’s political savvy and determination on healthcare. Previously I believed that only Hillary Clinton had the will and perseverance to make it happen.

I wrote previously that private health insurers will have a difficult time justifying their value, but at least they’re making a valiant effort. They appear to be selling a delicate mix of fear and optimism to both politicians and the American people. Bloomberg’s “GE, Siemens Will Fight Obama Plan to Cut Costs of MRIs, X-Rays” reports that General Electric (GE) wants to be anything but subtle in fighting the reduction in superfluous medical imaging. GE is mounting the political fight of its life to protect more than half of its 17.4B healthcare revenue. GE is risking tarnishing its good boy image by not learning from the more savvy attendees of the healthcare summit.

Most stakeholders are showing great skill in their efforts to derail the healthcare reform process. They all “want” reform with caveats. While none wants to concede any profits, they have yet to show investors how they can profit under an inevitable alternate reimbursement structure. The private healthcare industry is still pretending that they can defeat the President.

Disclosure: Author is long GE.

Sphere: Related Content