Train Wreck

By David Hass

The Baucus Health Reform Bill passed by the Senate Finance Committee yesterday is nanny state tax and spend liberalism on steroids.

Every problem addressed in the bill has a solution such as "create a new commission", "create state-based web portals or exchanges", "create a reinsurance program", "develop and implement one or more evidence-based Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visitation programs.", "creates a Simple Cafeteria Plan", "recommended by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force", or "the Advisory Committee on Immunizations", "creates a new state option", "establishes an initiative", "establish a value‐based purchasing program for hospitals", "strengthen and expand the Physician Quality Reporting Initiative", "requiring the Secretary to implement quality measure reporting programs for certain providers", "establish an Innovation Center at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services", "direct the Secretary to develop a voluntary pilot program", "establish an interagency working group", "increase graduate medical education (GME) training positions", "funding for a demonstration program", "establish a Workforce Advisory Committee", "establishes competitive demonstration grant programs", "creates a 15‐member, independent Medicare Commission", and on and on and on.

It seems that this bill is trying reduce unemployment in the US by hiring millions of health care administrators, commissioners, planners, enforcers, supervisors, and fact-checkers. I thought I was reading the English translation of a 1970's era Soviet State planning directive.

When it comes to real reform, the Baucus Bill passes the buck to the states. Here's how the bill addresses malpractice reform (don't laugh while reading, it is not a joke):

The Chairman's Mark expresses the Sense of the Senate that health care reform presents an opportunity to address issues related to medical malpractice and medical liability insurance. The Mark further expresses the Sense of the Senate that states should be encouraged to develop and test alternatives to the current civil litigation system as a way of improving patient safety, reducing medical errors, encouraging the efficient resolution of disputes, increasing the availability of prompt and fair resolution of disputes, and improving access to liability insurance, while preserving an individual's right to seek redress in court. The Mark expresses the Sense of the Senate that Congress should consider establishing a state demonstration program to evaluate alternatives to the current civil litigation system.

The Sense of the Senate? Nonsense.

Now the bill is going behind closed doors for "reconciliation". Will we be allowed to see what they come up with before a vote? I thought Senators and Congressmen worked for us.

The best thing about these bills is that they don't take effect until 2015.

Medicare is running out of money. Social Security is running out of money. States are going broke. The National Debit is over $12 trillion and climbing. The unfunded liabilities for Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security are over $100 trillion.

By the time this health care reform bill goes into effect, our nation will be bankrupt so this entire exercise is moot.

The Baucus Bill is a train wreck that is about to have a jet airplane crash down on top of it.