Obama & Health Care

The New York times ran an interesting editorial on health care that got me thinking about health care reform again.

First of all, Obama spoke to the AMA today. The reaction was chilly. Obama's proposed changes to malpractice, electronic health records, and anti-smoking legistlation were met warmly. However, the push for health cost savings was met with ice cold stares. So why the resistance from the AMA?

Fortunately, the NY Times expanded on this and provided an explanation. Essentially, health cuts really hurt physician salaries because they get less money for doing the same thing. Does this idea need to be expanded? Probably not.

So what is the solution? I think we need to simplify the system. I think materials and procedures should have a consistent cost and a clear system of billing. Is this possible? If so, it would provide a clearer picture as to how Obama's plan would change things. Because I think right now, everything is just speculation. We don't know how physician compensation would change. We don't know how our costs will change. Everything is a step in the dark.

Hopefully, President Obama will continue to make more steps to inform us about his proposed changes. I will be listening carefully for any numbers that he reports. So if you're interested tune in June 24th for Obama's "Health Care Town Hall" on ABC.