Insight, analysis & opinion from Joe Paduda

< Back to Home

Jun
19

Bill Richardson on health care

Today’s agenda at Take Back America includes speeches from Gov. Bill Richardson, Sen. Barack Obama, and John Edwards. I’ll post on each separately.
Richardson led off with a speech to attendees focusing on Iraq and global warming/energy conservation; nary a mention of health care, but health is not exactly a “red meat” topic, one that gets the crowd roaring. The after-speech press conference wasn’t much different – not a single question on or reference to health care.


Richardson’s health care platform mandates universal coverage, promotes tax breaks for lower-income Americans to help them buy health insurance, maintains some role for employers in funding and providing access to health care, and would allow people to buy into the Federal Employee Health Benefits Plan.
The 55 and older set will have the option to buy into Medicare. But Medicare itself would be dramatically different; Richardson appears to be pushing for the elimination of Medicare Advantage and other private-insurer based Medicare programs. I tried to find a Richardson staffer after the press conference to clarify – no luck.
Outside of those generalities, there’s little substance on the key issue of cost control. While universal coverage is critical, without some focus on health care cost control we’re going to be creating more demand without any control over supply.
And that’s going to make a big problem even bigger.


Joe Paduda is the principal of Health Strategy Associates

SUBSCRIBE BY EMAIL

SEARCH THIS SITE

A national consulting firm specializing in managed care for workers’ compensation, group health and auto, and health care cost containment. We serve insurers, employers and health care providers.

 

DISCLAIMER

© Joe Paduda 2024. We encourage links to any material on this page. Fair use excerpts of material written by Joe Paduda may be used with attribution to Joe Paduda, Managed Care Matters.

Note: Some material on this page may be excerpted from other sources. In such cases, copyright is retained by the respective authors of those sources.

ARCHIVES

Archives