CALPIRG Blog

The big health care news today is that insurers, Pharma, and others have promised the President to help him bring down the high cost of health care.

Have the special interests finally seen the light?  Color me skeptical.  They talk a big game, saying that they can reduce spending by $2 trillion over the next decade.  But their letter is skimpy on specifics. 

And just a few months ago, several of these groups were fighting tooth and nail against the stimulus package, because it contained money to research the best, most effective treatments doctors can use (drug and medical device makers don't like that sort of research, since it often turns out that their latest, priciest products aren't actually the best).

Some of the proposals they cite really are consensus winners -- everybody knows we need to invest more in health information technology, for example.  But just because insurers and Pharma are mouthing the right pieties when it comes to getting costs under control doesn't mean that, when the rubber hits the road, they'll actually support consumer-friendly policies.

In fact, by offering their own "constructive" proposal now, they're likely hoping to bargain away the kinds of rules they really don't want to see.  They're hoping to trade that $2 trillion dollars to remove the option of a public health insurance plan from the legislation, to water down reforms that will help doctors avoid costly, counterproductive treatments, to protect their bottom line at our expense.

Still, today's announcement is definitely good news -- because it shows that the special interests are scared. They think reform is going to happen, with or without them.  They're desperate to strike a bargain; they want to be at the table, since they don't think they can stop the momentum for change. 

If we keep up our pressure for health care reform, this isn't the last set of concessions the special interests will have to make -- and eventually, they'll have to take the deal we're offering.