On Wednesday night, I had the good fortune to be among 164 invited participants in ABC News’ health care forum, Questions for the President: Prescription for America. The event itself was a hybrid of a news conference (with the public instead of reporters) and a White House social event.
After clearing security, attendees gathered on the White House lawn, and for a brief period listened to a Marine Corps trio, though we quickly retreated inside as the heat, humidity and insects made it too uncomfortable to congregate. I saw some people I knew and enjoyed meeting others—and all of us were excited to be there. It was a diverse group of health care providers, insurers, policy experts, medical/nursing students, human resources representatives, business people, and others from all walks of life and political points of view, all invited because we each have a vested interest in the final shape and success of a national health plan.
ABC asked us to submit a question in advance for the president. My question was, “We have real life experience in Massachusetts with success of covering nearly 98 percent of our population in less than three years without raising health care costs and without the expense and unintended consequences of a government-run plan. Why can’t the nation follow our example?” Though I did not get to ask the president my question, it is my understanding that all questions were forwarded to the president’s staff following the program. Concern about a government-run plan was one of the central topics of the evening.
Dr. Tim Johnson, who categorized the evening’s content as access and coverage, effective treatment, and cost control, set up the questioning. Taped at 8 p.m. in the East Room of the White House, the exchange between ABC news anchor Charlie Gibson and the president was unscripted. He and Good Morning America host Diane Sawyer were just as you see them on TV, polished and professional. Questions were thoughtful, represented general concern about quality, rationing of care, a potential lack of choice, and of course, cost. How do we as a nation pay for national health care reform and what does it look like, were themes at the core of every question.
The president answered questions without notes or a teleprompter, and graciously shook hands during each commercial break. Though there was not a great deal of technical detail, he effectively laid out his view on a health care reform plan. It was clear that his thinking had evolved since the campaign and his early conversations with Congress. While the format did not allow for an extensive review of his health plan proposal, it did surface issues in a more comprehensive way than the average American might otherwise hear this early in what will be an evolving political process. The timing of this event was fortuitous, as some feared that this great public policy effort of providing universal coverage to the country was going off track as costs are beginning to be calculated. I believe that this attention will keep the conversation going in households across America.
Aetna President Ronald A. Williams asked a version of my question regarding a government-run health plan, making the analogy that it is difficult to compete against a player who is also the person refereeing the game. The president acknowledged that Aetna is a well-managed company, and responded to Mr. Williams by emphasizing that a public plan would have to abide by the same rules set for private insurers, and that an incentive for private insurers is the potential for tremendous growth through the enrollment of millions of uninsured Americans. That growth opportunity, said President Obama, should sharpen competition by precipitating a change in some practices, such as coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. That said, in my opinion, it is hard to believe that in practice this would work.
Nevertheless, at the end of the one and a half hours, I felt that the debate had been advanced, and that the president had shown flexibility in answering controversial questions.
I was privileged to be a part of the evening. While I have been to the White House before, I always get a special, hard-to-describe feeling when I am there—it is the Peoples’ House. Just as the president must do, there is something about being there that makes me think about the needs of the country and the responsibilities we have for each other as fellow citizens. It is profound and humbling.
On balance, I did not agree with every premise or details of every answer, though I believe that the president and ABC News took some additional, important steps and should be commended for their efforts. Universal health care coverage is a topic worthy of debate, but more importantly, is worthy of implementation. We must keep the dialogue going.
James Roosevelt, Jr.
President and CEO, Tufts Health Plan
“My question was, “We have real life experience in Massachusetts with success of covering nearly 98 percent of our population in less than three years without raising health care costs and without the expense and unintended consequences of a government-run plan. Why can’t the nation follow our example?”
Your question was untruthful. According to the October 2008 final report regarding the individual mandate, 95% of the 96% of tax filers claimed to be insured. That leaves at least 5% uninsured which is half of the original 10.3% uninsured when this freak show was implemented. The figures for the 2008 filing aren’t out yet according to a D.O.R. spokesperson.
Furthermore, the MA plan is running into significant budget problems – 18,000 poor people just lost their coverage while many residents can’t afford to use the insurance, much less pay the premiums. Of course, customers not using your products means more $$ in your profit coffers which is why you are one of the cheerleaders for the MA plan as well as the bills coming out of D.C. which closely resemble the MA freak show.
Health care costs have continued to rise for residents over the past 3 years. Case in point: the premiums for Commonwealth Care increased 10% and copays went up 50% to 100%; Commonwealth Choice premiums increased 5%. For 2009, Commonwealth Choice premiums will increase 3.5% (from the latest I have read) while Commonwealth Care premiums may decrease by an average of $2.44 for some plans. No mention of copays. An average of $2.44 per month for some plans doesn’t amount to a row of beans.
“. . . hard-to-describe feeling when I am there—it is the Peoples’ House. Just as the president must do, there is something about being there that makes me think about the needs of the country and the responsibilities we have for each other as fellow citizens. It is profound and humbling.”
Actually, neither Congress or Obama are representing the people as more than 62% of the people want a single-payer system. Much to your delight, Congress and Obama represent the insurance companies and big pharma. It is NOT the People’s House. It is the corporations that run this country while our elected officials take the bribes of the lobbyists instead of representing the people.
We do not have universal or near-universal health care in MA. We have a health insurance mandate that forces residents to make untenable choices between eating, heating, etc. or buying expensive, non-usable health insurance policies or paying costly fines. We have residents unable to find a doctor within a 50-mile radius much less have a choice of doctors or the ability to keep their doctors including specialists. And that’s just for starters. This has nothing to do with access to equitable health care for all.
Enrollment in Commonwealth Care decreased from 176,307 in Nov. 2008 to 165,003 in March 2009 with the percentages of people in each of the plan types staying about the same – 72.6% in the free plans, 15.15% in the least expensive, and the most expensive at 12.25%. These breakdowns have not changed significantly since January 2008 which shows that there is a huge problem – monthly disenrollment outpaces enrollment which means residents are going without care and RX – bouncing in and out of plans.
A dose of reality might do you some good – might being the operative word. The free-riders are the insurance company CEOs and the politicians who take their payola, not the individuals and families struggling to make ends meet who can’t afford insurance.
If the law of the land mandates that every citizen purchase health insurance, that law must be fair to all citizens. What is on the table in D.C. at this time does not even come close to meeting that criteria. Likewise for the MA mandate. No bill would be better than a MA clone.
With regard to calling the MA plan a success, please provide me with a cogent response to the following question:
How many is it OK to exploit in order to benefit a few?
[...] — who also happens to be the CEO of Tufts Health Plan, one of the GIC’s larger plans — in his blog last Friday described a White House Press event on health reform that he had attended and pointed out that the [...]