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What's Mark Warner Talking About On Health Care Reform?

Friday, November 20, 2009

Based on these tweets, I'm baffled.

*"Warner indicates he will vote FOR cloture tomorrow: 'moving to debate it simply starts the process'"

*"Warner, more: 'I think it's gotten better but I think it's still got a long ways to go before I can get to a yes'"

*"Warner re #hcr - 'to get me to a yes on this bill, there needs to be more cost containment'"

A top Virginia political reporter once described Mark Warner to me as "trying to nail jello to the wall." In this case, it sure looks that way, as I can't figure out what on earth he's talking about. I mean, all this verbiage means Warner wants WHAT exactly to get him to "yes" on health care reform? Or does Warner think some sort of "free market economagic" will do the trick?
...Every other industrialized nation on Earth provides health care for dramatically less than we do. Cost control is not some great mystery. There is no need to re-invent the wheel. There is no need to come up with brand new, super-complicated “reimbursing for quality” reward ideas. There are plenty of thoroughly tested, completely proven cost control mechanisms we can directly borrow from other nations.

The problem is economists and policy experts in this country insist on only using what I call “free market economagic” to fix our health care system. Health care does not (and never will) truly work on free market principles. It works most closely on the principles of a hostage negotiation. I walk into a hospital with a gunshot wound, and I need them to perform surgery to save my life. What “fair market value” they can charge me for saving me life? Basically, they can charge me anything because I literally have no choice but to pay them what they ask.

What we don’t need is health care economists trying to figure out solutions that fit the “free market economagic” doctrine. We need people willing to make simple, practical comparisons between our incredibly expensive system and those of other nations. Looking around the world, one thing becomes clear: We pay more for everything. We pay much more for drugs, more for hospitals stays, more for tests, and more for almost all procedures.
Is that what Mark Warner's talking about, "free market economagic?" Or, is he suggesting we adopt some of the "thoroughly tested, completely proven cost control mechanisms" from other nations? Or, is he proposing a more robust public option with payments to providers tied to Medicare rates? Or...any other ideas? Does anyone know what Mark Warner is talking about here? I don't.

UPDATE: On the other hand, we have an excellent speech by Mark Warner on how important health care reform will be for small business.