Daily News Updates - Health Insurance News

The Health Insurance/care Pickle, Pt.1 -–  Exclusive interview.

Some problems are such a mess that even Obama and McCain have to agree. Such is the case with the American health insurance/care system. Health and Science Editor, Maggie Fox has posted a comprehensive article on www.reuters.com/article which provides a more complete look to assess the scope of things. As she suggests, large problems like the “47 million Americans without health insurance” and the way our nation’s people get so little after spending such an incredible amount on health insurance/care (as mush as 16% of our nation’s GDP) are so bad that both or our opposing candidates agree that they must be fixed.

In a forum last week (please refer to the “Candidates’ Advisers’ Detail” article for more detail), prominent health economists/advisors for both parties met in Newark to hash it out on the health insurance/care reform issues. At this forum, the two parties delineated their implementation strategies. They also granted “exclusive interviews with Reuters reporters and editors” to discuss their respective stances as to health insurance/care reform priorities, as Maggie reports to us. The overall contrasting directions indicate that Mr. Obama wants to involve “government, employers and industry” to champion the cause. Conversely, Mr. McCain wants patients (who he considers to be consumers) and the free market to do it.

Given the climate, Gail Wilensky notes that health insurance/care reform does not hold equal importance between parties. Gail is an expert health economics advisor for the McCain camp. She is a dedicated and serious professional. She formerly served as the administrator for the Health Care Financing Administration, was program director for Medicare and Medicaid during the senior Bush administration and now is a senior fellow at an international health education foundation called Project HOPE.

Continued…