Obamaland

"We can wait...for the right plan" -Bob Ehrlich

Barack Obama has a vision for healthcare. Everything is better and costs less. No one has to give up anything. Only things that work will be used. Bad practices will be eliminated. Panels of experts will ensure all these great outcomes.

The President is right that our current system is unsustainable. We must reform. We must reform soon. His press conference on Wednesday was a visit to Obamaland. Here, there are no sacrifices to achieve universal coverage and better care for all. When asked what Americans will have to give up he said only the things that do not work. In Obamaland that means whatever the government standards say does not work.

Clearly, rationing of services, drugs, procedures, and tests will be part of Obama’s reform. You want that expensive MRI for those agonizing pains in your back? In Obamaland, we will ask you to try some exercises first. You want a branded pill? No, that 10 year old generic works pretty well. Try that first and see if it works. Rationing may in fact be necessary to contain costs and I do not object to some rationing. We clearly cannot continue to pay the cost of extending life of the elderly by a few months. Both my dad and my father-in-law were beneficiaries of care that extended life by a few weeks but at costs of hundreds of thousands of dollars. Neither really wanted the care at that final stage but since Medicare paid, the hospitals and doctors made sure all the body parts were checked daily.

I object not to Obama’s goals. I object to his fantasy and sugar coated statements that avoid telling Americans the truth. We should cover more people. We should ensure portability of coverage. We should prevent medical bankruptcy. Obama needs to just tell the truth that Americans will give up a lot under reform. The country can handle the truth. Obama is playing Jack Nicholson with us. The Few Good Men line is wrong here. Americans may be better off with less tests, more primary care, less surgery, watchful waiting, more generics, etc. Of course he evaded the truth in his press conference and several reporters tried to get a direct answer but failed.

Obama always presents his plan as a choice between status quo and saving our health system from bankruptcy. No one I know wants status quo so he presents this false choice as if Republicans want to do nothing. His deadline is nonsense and America deserves full information on what specifically will change, the unbiased costs of the plan, and the realities of choices on services. If it is such a good plan after full disclosure, the electorate will support it. Obama was evasive in his press conference thinking long answers using his excellent rhetorical skills would cover up his lack of candor. Obama, however, is becoming a daily fixture on television convinced that his rhetoric is so powerful we will be mesmerized into agreement. Sometimes less is more and this President needs less exposure.

I supported Obama so I am not some right winger bashing him. I want him to succeed but I ask him to listen less to Pelosi and more to his own moderates. We can wait another year for the right plan, widely supported, and widely vetted

Bob Ehrlich, Chairman
DTC Perspectives, Inc.