Comments on: Changing The Name — But Not The Political Game http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2010/07/30/changing-the-name-but-not-the-political-game/ The Policy Journal of the Health Sphere Tue, 07 Feb 2012 22:23:43 +0000 hourly 1 By: annecarroll http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2010/07/30/changing-the-name-but-not-the-political-game/comment-page-1/#comment-34215 annecarroll Mon, 02 Aug 2010 23:44:45 +0000 http://healthaffairs.org/blog/?p=6194#comment-34215 For those who insist on using the pejorative and not-very-scholarly propaganda term "ObamaCare", you should know that this plan was, in fact, the Republican "health reform plan" in 1993, almost verbatim, including state insurance markets and mandated coverage for everyone: Summary Of A 1993 Republican Health Reform Plan http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2010/February/23/GOP-1993-health-reform-bill.aspx Chart: Comparing Health Reform Bills: Democrats and Republicans 2009, Republicans 1993 http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Graphics/2010/022310-Bill-comparison.aspx ...which only proves how far to the right this country has drifted--even the "center" is now indistinguishable from the conservative camp. Instead of being happy about how well history has treated them, it seems the right wing camp is never satisfied... For those who insist on using the pejorative and not-very-scholarly propaganda term “ObamaCare”, you should know that this plan was, in fact, the Republican “health reform plan” in 1993, almost verbatim, including state insurance markets and mandated coverage for everyone:

Summary Of A 1993 Republican Health Reform Plan
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Stories/2010/February/23/GOP-1993-health-reform-bill.aspx

Chart: Comparing Health Reform Bills: Democrats and Republicans 2009, Republicans 1993
http://www.kaiserhealthnews.org/Graphics/2010/022310-Bill-comparison.aspx

…which only proves how far to the right this country has drifted–even the “center” is now indistinguishable from the conservative camp.

Instead of being happy about how well history has treated them, it seems the right wing camp is never satisfied…

]]> By: John R. Graham http://healthaffairs.org/blog/2010/07/30/changing-the-name-but-not-the-political-game/comment-page-1/#comment-34163 John R. Graham Fri, 30 Jul 2010 18:57:14 +0000 http://healthaffairs.org/blog/?p=6194#comment-34163 In their previous National Affairs article, Mr. Miller & Mr. Capretta estimated that fully funded high-risk pools would cost $15 to $20 billion annually, a figure which they reduce in this article to $10 to $15 billion annually. Nevertheless, over three and a half years (July 1, 2010 through December 31, 2013), this adds up to $35 to $52.5 billion - seven to ten times greater than the $5 billion currently scored by the CBO! They recommend taking this money from the post-2014 ObamaCare budget. However, they do not propose an alternative to post-2014 ObamaCare, other than (accurately) traducing it as a "massive transformation" of American health care with significant negative consequences. Mr. Miller has previously proposed alternative reforms (in a February publication co-written with Joseph Antos), and Mr. Capretta is second-to-none in his analyses of ObamaCare's disastrous fiscal consequences, which he has communicated in other fora. Their current focus on high-risk pools appears to set aside their previous lines of inquiry, at least for the time being. It is difficult to understand how the outcome they desire for high-risk pools corresponds with their larger vision of alternative reform, expressed elsewhere. If the high-risk pools remain poorly funded, and fail, they will become yet another mark against ObamaCare. If Congress raids the post-2014 budget to fund the high-risk pools, as Miller and Capretta advise, high-risk pools might "succeed." ObamaCare will become even more solidly locked in, and the chances for "reforming the reform" even dimmer. Furthermore, as the clock ticks towards 2014, Congress will have to find new sources of revenue to replace the money that is currently earmarked for ObamaCare's exchanges, but already spent on high-risk pools, per Miller & Capretta. In their previous National Affairs article, Mr. Miller & Mr. Capretta estimated that fully funded high-risk pools would cost $15 to $20 billion annually, a figure which they reduce in this article to $10 to $15 billion annually. Nevertheless, over three and a half years (July 1, 2010 through December 31, 2013), this adds up to $35 to $52.5 billion – seven to ten times greater than the $5 billion currently scored by the CBO!

They recommend taking this money from the post-2014 ObamaCare budget. However, they do not propose an alternative to post-2014 ObamaCare, other than (accurately) traducing it as a “massive transformation” of American health care with significant negative consequences. Mr. Miller has previously proposed alternative reforms (in a February publication co-written with Joseph Antos), and Mr. Capretta is second-to-none in his analyses of ObamaCare’s disastrous fiscal consequences, which he has communicated in other fora. Their current focus on high-risk pools appears to set aside their previous lines of inquiry, at least for the time being.

It is difficult to understand how the outcome they desire for high-risk pools corresponds with their larger vision of alternative reform, expressed elsewhere. If the high-risk pools remain poorly funded, and fail, they will become yet another mark against ObamaCare. If Congress raids the post-2014 budget to fund the high-risk pools, as Miller and Capretta advise, high-risk pools might “succeed.” ObamaCare will become even more solidly locked in, and the chances for “reforming the reform” even dimmer.

Furthermore, as the clock ticks towards 2014, Congress will have to find new sources of revenue to replace the money that is currently earmarked for ObamaCare’s exchanges, but already spent on high-risk pools, per Miller & Capretta.

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