The Mayo Clinic’s Rebuke of the Tri-Committee “Obamacare” Bill
22 July 2009 | By LowellB in Health Care Reform, Lowell, Politics, TN Blog
The Mayo Clinic posted this commentary on the Congressional plan that was released a couple of days ago:
“Although there are some positive provisions in the current House Tri-Committee bill – including insurance for all and payment reform demonstration projects – the proposed legislation misses the opportunity to help create higher-quality, more affordable health care for patients. In fact, it will do the opposite.
“In general, the proposals under discussion are not patient focused or results oriented. Lawmakers have failed to use a fundamental lever – a change in Medicare payment policy – to help drive necessary improvements in American health care. Unless legislators create payment systems that pay for good patient results at reasonable costs, the promise of transformation in American health care will wither. The real losers will be the citizens of the United States.”
I really dislike the Tri-Committee bill, so I agree with what Mayo says. Their take also seems consistent with what Atul Gawande said in this New Yorker article, “The Cost Conundrum,” which I found presuasive. I think, however, that the conservatives who are so gleeful about Mayo’s statement should keep in mind that Mayo’s criticism of the Tri-Committee bill is pretty narrow: Medicare payment policy still encourages more care, rather than the right care. It would not be hard to amend the Tri-Committee bill to at least attempt to do that, which would be a bad thing. As a small-government guy, I worry about the federal government trying to exercise oversight over medical decisions.
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