Some answers on health care...

I know you're all trolling the news for analysis about President Obama's speech to Congress last night. I thought I'd follow up on the questions in yesterday's post, and highlight some of the answers he provided, just to save you all the time of doing the same. So here goes:

Q. Is the “public option” still on the table? Is it off the table? What is it anyway?

A. The short answer is, it's still on the table (and in some Congressional proposals) but may be more likely to take the form of an "insurance exchange." Quoting the President, "... if you lose your job or you change your job, you'll be able to get coverage. If you strike out on your own and start a small business, you'll be able to get coverage. We'll do this by creating a new insurance exchange, a marketplace where individuals and small businesses will be able to shop for health insurance at competitive prices.This exchange will take effect in four years, which will give us time to do it right. In the meantime, for those Americans who can't get insurance today because they have preexisting medical conditions, we will immediately offer low-cost coverage that will protect you against financial ruin if you become seriously ill."
"...an additional step we can take to keep insurance companies honest is by making a not-for-profit public option available in the insurance exchange....it would only be an option for those who don't have insurance. No one would be forced to choose it and it would not impact those of you who already have insurance."

Q. Is health care reform without the public option really reform at all, since theoretically one of the goals is to correct the market failure of the existing health insurance industry and make sure that everyone can have some kind of health care coverage that doesn’t break the bank?

A. I confess, that was a retorical question. Still, President Obama made it clear that the goal continues to be to provide affordable coverage to anyone who wants it.

Q. And speaking of breaking the bank, how much will health care reform cost, and where will the revenues come from to pay for it? Are there ways to increase the efficiency of the health care system so those dollars can be used to cover more people?

A. "...the plan I'm proposing will cost around $900 billion over 10 years..."
"most of these costs will be paid for with money already being spent -- but spent badly -- in the existing health care system. The plan will not add to our deficit. The middle class will realize greater security, not higher taxes. And if we are able to slow the growth of health care costs by just one-tenth of 1 percent each year -- one-tenth of 1 percent -- it will actually reduce the deficit by $4 trillion over the long term."
"...we've estimated that most of this plan can be paid for by finding ..savings within the existing health care system, a system that is currently full of waste and abuse."
"We have long known that some places... offer high-quality care at costs below average.
So the commission can help encourage the adoption of these common-sense best practices by doctors and medical professionals throughout the system -- everything from reducing hospital infection rates to encouraging better coordination between teams of doctors.
Reducing the waste and inefficiency in Medicare and Medicaid will pay for most of this plan."

Q. Finally, if I’m a voter who currently gets health care coverage through an HMO, partially paid for by my employer, how will the current reform proposals affect me and my family?

A. "...if you are among the hundreds of millions of Americans who already have health insurance through your job, or Medicare, or Medicaid, or the V.A., nothing in this plan will require you or your employer to change the coverage or the doctor you have...What this plan will do is make the insurance you have work better for you. Under this plan, it will be against the law for insurance companies to deny you coverage because of a preexisting condition."

So that's where we are, from President Obama's point of view. So far today, various members of Congress have responded by talking about co-ops as an alternative to the public option, busting on Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) for his ill-advised and downright rude heckling, for which he has since apologized, and setting out a new target date of Thanksgiving for passing a bill.
If that happens, I will indeed be thankful.

For a full transcript of President Obama's remarks provided by The Washington Post, click here.