OTHER VOICES
“A report from a panel of prominent healthcare experts identifies about $750 billion in annual savings the group claims could be achieved by adjusting current practices. The implication is that rooting out waste and fraud in a bloated system could mean deep cuts in the nation’s healthcare bill are possible without rationing and with better quality healthcare. The Institute of Medicine report claims the healthcare system squanders about 30 cents of every medical dollar. … Recommendations include payment reforms to reward quality results instead of reimbursing for each procedure; improving coordination among providers; leveraging technology to reinforce sound clinical decisions; and educating patients to become more savvy consumers. The reforms will require action by all. For employers that could mean starting to demand more accountability from providers and perhaps from their employees ... for doctors, it could mean more collaboration with peers; and for consumers, it might mean expecting to hear the word ‘no’ more often to their demands for tests and services. Of course, the system needs to root out waste wherever it occurs … But it won’t be easy for Americans who like to have what they want when they want it.”
—Albuquerque Journal
“Mitt Romney, who was for healthcare reform before he was against it, now sounds like he’s for it again. Or maybe not. The Republican presidential nominee said … he would keep key provisions of ... the reform law he vows to repeal. Then a Romney aide said that wasn’t exactly right. In any event, this clumsy pivot toward the general election … underscores the popularity of some portions of … reform and the foolishness of Romney’s unqualified pledge to kill it. … Romney said that he would keep some provisions of the Affordable Care Act after he persuades Congress to repeal it. ‘I’m not getting rid of all of healthcare reform,’ Romney said. ‘There are a number of things that I like in healthcare reform that I’m going to put in place. One is to make sure that those with pre-existing conditions can get coverage. Two is to assure that the marketplace allows for individuals to have policies that cover their family up to whatever age they might like. I also want individuals to be able to buy … health insurance, on their own as opposed to only being able to get it on a tax-advantage basis through their company.’ Funny, those concessions weren’t mentioned during the Republican convention, where Obamacare was a dirty word.”
—Tampa Bay Times (Fla.)
“The reforms will require action by all”