http://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2009/05/health-care-industrys-pr-scam-will-obama-fall-it
http://www.commondreams.org/view/2009/05/12-3
Tuesday, May 12, 2009
Mother Jones
The Health Care Industry's PR Scam: Will Obama Fall for It?
by James Ridgeway
In a much-anticipated statement [yesterday], Barack Obama announced
[1]what is largely a public relations end-run by the health care
industry, designed to trim a few scraps off of the nation's porcine
health care budget, while preserving its basic system of medicine
for profit.
In a letter to Obama that was released over the weekend, executives
from the Advanced Medical Technology Association (the medical device
manufacturers lobbying group), the American Hospital Association,
the American Medical Association, America's Health Insurance Plans,
and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, as
well as the Service Employees International Union, pledged to "do
our part" to reduce health care costs. Their vague, pie-in-the sky
promise amounts to just a 1.5 percent reduction in the growth rate
of health care spending. Such is the explosion in health care costs
that even this miniscule reduction represents a potential $2
trillion saving over 10 years. But there's no guarantee this figure
will be achieved. As the Washington Post points out [2]:
The groups did not spell out yesterday how they plan to reach
such a target, and...they offer only a broad pledge, not an
outright commitment....In addition, White House officials said,
there is no mechanism to ensure that the groups live up to their
offer, only the implicit threat of public embarrassment.
"Public embarrassment"? From Big Pharma [3]and the health insurance
companies [4]--two of the most shameless industries in the history
of corporate capitalism? In any case, even if the $2 trillion
reduction is achieved, it clearly won't come out of industry
profits. The Post reports:
Signers of the letter said that large amounts could be saved by
aggressive efforts to prevent obesity, coordinate care, manage
chronic illnesses and curtail unnecessary tests and procedures;
by standardizing insurance claim forms; and by increasing the use
of information technology, like electronic medical records.
So let's get this straight: Saving all this money depends on getting
Americans to eat less? Good luck with that one. And the other
brilliant cost-saving measures involve getting doctors to create
computer records of all the overpriced drugs they prescribe, and
giving patients easier forms to fill out before they get turned down
six times by their private insurance companies?
Do you see a pattern here? None of these changes would make a dent
in the industry's bottom line--and what's more, they could even
enhance profits, by encouraging government-funded programs to help
private companies streamline their bloated bureaucracy (much of
which would instantly become superfluous under a public,
single-payer system). The letter to Obama suggested this when it
said: "We are committed to taking action in private-public
partnership to create a more stable and sustainable health care
system." We all know by now that "private-public partnership"
usually means public investment for private profit.
It all adds up to a brilliant move, when you think about it. It
makes the private health care companies look cooperative and
proactive, rather than like the greedy obstructionists they really
are. It gets these companies on the inside track with the
administration, and creates common cause with the unions. In
particular, it establishes a solid place at the table for the health
insurance industry, the blood-sucking middlemen who ought to be
kicked out of the health care system altogether.
And what might the industry get in return for this generous
"cooperation"? The Kaiser Daily Health Policy report today
[5]rounded up the possibilities:
The [Wall Street] Journal [6]reports that although the groups did
not ask for anything in return for the pledge, many of the
factions are looking to prevent regulations that could "pose new
burdens" or affect their profitability. For example, the health
insurance industry is seeking to offset any reductions to their
payments by obtaining new rules that would require all U.S.
residents to have health coverage, according to the Journal. The
Journal reports that health insurers have made several
concessions intended to prevent a public option - which they fear
could affect their profitability - as part of reform legislation
(Wall Street Journal, 5/11). According to the AP/Philadelphia
Inquirer [7], drugmakers are hoping to avoid a requirement that
new drugs pass a cost-benefit test before receiving regulatory
approval. In addition, hospitals and physicians are looking to
avoid a system in which the government would dictate their
payments for all patients, not just those under Medicare or
Medicaid (Alonso-Zaldivar, AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 5/11).
In other words, the underlying purpose of this PR stunt is to slow
or block any meaningful health care reforms, which could actually
improve care while reducing the price tag by a lot more than 1.5
percent. These include regulating the cost of pharmaceuticals and
medical devices, curtailing or eliminating the role of the insurance
companies, or introducing single-payer, which allows other developed
countries to deliver superior health care for 20 to 40
percent less--all of which make $2 trillion in weight-loss programs
and paperwork reduction measures look pretty pitiful by comparison.
All we can hope for is the possibility, remote as it may be, that
Obama himself is also playing a PR game--making nice with the
industry shills while planning some kind of genuine reform that will
hit them in the only place that counts, and the only place where
truly meaningful savings reside: their profit margins.
© 2009 Mother Jones
James Ridgeway is the Washington Correspondent for Mother Jones [8].