Rahm Emanuel’s big brother, that is. Ezekiel Emanuel, an oncologist who has long been involved with healthcare issues, is now “a top adviser to White House budget chief Peter Orszag.” Does anybody know where he stands on anything? Might be a good idea to find out since Obama’s carving out hundreds of billions of dollars for healthcare “reform.”
Let’s see now…Here’s an article from the Washington Post that summarizes some of Dr. Emanuel’s suggestions: “an independent National Health Board and regional boards modeled on the Federal Reserve System” (You know, so that our healthcare system can be run with the same eagle-eye vigilance and Prussian efficiency that characterizes our banking system)…a government-subsidized, universal “essential benefits package” (Like the insurance you’ve got now? Too bad!), that would be “financed by a dedicated tax that everyone pays”… “an independent Institute for Technology and Outcomes Assessment” (To determine whether your particular ailment should be allotted resources)…If it all sounds strangely like Hillary Care, that could be because Dr. Emanuel was a member of Hillary’s healthcare task force.
Contrary to the leftist mantra that “our healthcare system is broken,” health care in the U.S. is apparently good enough to attract patients from Canada, a country which has the kind of system over which Democrats routinely swoon in adoration. And the articles linked above do not mention some of the more sinister features of Hillary’s plan – most notoriously, the criminalization of healthcare provided outside the parameters of a government-run system. The key is to try to fix what doesn’t work rather than to implement a comprehensive, across-the-board overhaul that will likely reduce the average quality of healthcare.
Does Dr. Emanuel believe that a physician and a patient who privately contract for treatment outside of a government-subsidized program should be jailed? Does he believe that an ostensibly “independent” board should influence the allocation of resources for new research? (And does he truly think that the chances of politically-motivated funding would be zero?) Maybe someone should ask him – on the record.
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9 comments:
I read part of a fabulously ignorant piece in the New Yorker recently about health in the US, lauding the NHS of Great Britain as a perfect example of a social healthcare system. It kind of ignored the fact that the NHS is derided throughout the UK, and that it suffers from all the obvious problems of socialised systems (waiting queues, bloated bureaucracies, abuse of the system by members of the public).
In Australia our public hospitals are often hellholes. The state of Queensland has doctors that work up to 75-hour shifts at a time, and hospitals always working at crisis point (imagine how they'd cope if a real disaster happened). There are perpetual squabbles between the states and the federal government about who is responsible for what health problem, and when. And these problems never seem to go away.
In fixing the health system, you US guys want to be sure to preserve what's good about it, and avoid the manifold problems with socialised medicine that the rest of the world encounter. The US media is typically oblivious to these problems - (hell, the Australian media is oblivious to problems with US health, too) - but don't be deluded by that into thinking that they aren't there.
(Rant not directed at you, Paco - just something that's been sticking in my mind for a long time, ever since I read that damned New Yorker article.)
TimT: You're absolutely right. Whatever needs fixing in the U.S. system can be fixed without socialism.
Paco, thanks for these intelligence summaries on Obama's cabinet. I would say "biographies", but "intelligence summary" is much closer to reality.
Jeff: They all add up to a pretty horrifying bunch, don't they?
It's like watching Al Capone appoint his cronies to key positions, Paco. Or maybe Stalin.
Not to mention the incredible degree of networking here is stunning. A cynic might describe that as "deliberate".
"Institute for Technology and Outcomes Assessment" might be equated to the "National Institute of Health and Clinical Excellence":
1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Institute_for_Health_and_Clinical_Excellence
2. http://www.nice.org.uk/
Enjoy ...
Cheers
TimT -- I deride the NHS because it keeps killing people I know. Call me petty.
I'm very sorry you feel this way, Paco.
"Peace, America!" Citizen Obama said.
While Public Attitudes Can Obstruct his glorious plans for us, remember he ascribes to the view that People Are Clumsy Oafs who must practice Pure And Complete Obedience. Sure on health care his Policies Aren't Completely Original; hell, Panetta And Clinton Once tried the same stuff. Perhaps America's Conservative Obduration can't be overcome; no matter, for the Presidential Air Cavalry On-route to your location right now wishes to...discuss these views with you.
My word, Bingley, you are a genius at acronyms (as well as many other things)!
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