President Obama met with health care groups Monday and praised them for agreeing on a plan they calculate would cut increases in projected health care costs by $2 trillion over the next decade, saying it was part of a broader effort to provide quality, affordable health care to every American. Full Story »
Posted by Derek Hawkins
If putting your hand out in the rain and saying it's raining is quality meteorology - then this is quality journalism, and to that extent only. This story did little to illuminate the challenges - including the challenges of getting a well-rounded group into the room. Who's there ?? What is fact is a health care group? Why all the buzz terminology ?? This article was sophomoric at best - but I'm inclined to call it file filler. Not very enlightening.
This subject matter finds me approaching the subject with oven-mitts. We are experiencing a round-table of experts that doesn't include any proponents for single-payer health insurance - but nary a word mentioned anywhere. Certainly not in this article. Additionally the repeated use of the term health care groups - what in fact does that mean? How did this become an acceptable phrase? Is it in the talking point lexicon ? Insurance - this entire process, thus far, has been controlled by insurance giants. That's not health care - that's health business. When one takes the time to construct a relational ownership chart of insurance companies - their financial company affiliates and thier beneficial ownership in health services companies it becomes clear that this phase of health care talks is not about health at all ... but about finance and stockholder return. Period. Containing costs and increasing profits. This article didn't challenge anything or provide any other perspective. It may as well have been provided by the White House. More of my commentary on the matter in the link if you're interested.