Thursday, May 28, 2009

Kathleen Sebelius - unwilling to commit to anything

The other day I saw a rebroadcast (C-SPAN) of a hearing in early May, 2009 (Charles Rangel's committee) on health reform and it was yet another disappointment. The administration has no plan. Sebelius just wants to "work with Congress". Even on the issue of doctor-owned hospitals, which she has elsewhere condemned because they are not cost-effective (there's a real conflict of interest that encourages unnecessary and costly tests), she waffled.

Most of the things she talked about, like "encouraging" hospitals to implement checklists to lower infection rates, are fine - but there don't seem to be any sticks or carrots, for that matter. Who, for example, is going to make sure that insurance pays for outcomes rather than tests?

As with the credit card "reform" bill, all we are likely to see is more tinkering around the edges that will leave insurance companies with huge profits and citizens with too-expensive health care.

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