by Mark Silva
The House will press forward with healthcare legislation this month, despite the Senate putting the brakes on any bill until September, Rahm Emanuel, White House chief of staff and a former House leader, said in an interview aired on National Public Radio's Morning Edition today.
"I can tell you what I know, which is that the speaker today announced to the caucus that their intention is to go next week and she is working toward that goal,'' Emanuel said in an interview last night following his meetings with House leaders on Capitol Hill.
"One of the things that I think is important is keeping the advocates who have been the biggest stumbling blocks to reform on the side of getting reform done,'' Emanuel said.
"Not at all costs, but helping them push this along,'' he said, suggesting that negotiations are further along than some may think they are. "That has been a key part of this. We are down to the final details. Those details matter. But we will, I think --and are making progress."
The Democratic partisan also addressed Republican criticism for the bill, including Sen. Jim DeMint's declaration that healthcare could be Obama's "Waterloo'' and Sen. James Inhofe's similar sentiments.
"I'm OK with politics, as you well know,'' Emanuel said. "You know, today Sen. Inhofe, I don't have the exact quote, but basically the thrust of the quote was the political importance of defeating this because of what it would do to President Obama. They're seeing it in political terms, and they've decided that if they can beat the president on health care reform, they've scored a big political victory.
"But what they've also guaranteed in policy terms is that you have the status quo,'' he said. "I actually appreciate what Senator DeMint said and Senator Inhofe. I'm different than everybody, I'm not going to criticize them. I compliment them. They're honest. Now...
NPR's Steve Inskeep asked if that means "there's actually some truth to that - if you guys don't stick with us on this it could be a disaster for the Democratic Party?''
"No, no. They're being honest about what they see the stakes,'' he said. "And what I find interesting, I haven't heard a lot of people in their party criticize them.''
The full interview with Emanuel is available at NPR
Comments
Ending subsidies for the private insurers (on reducing ER visits) and payment reform and so on could be enough to meet the goal of deficit-neutral. The Times in a July 7 editorial argued “As much as 30 percent of all health-care spending in this country?some $700 billion a year?may be wasted on tests and treatments that do not improve the health of the recipients,” .
According to a national study conducted by Weill Cornell Medical College, the cost of interaction between physician practices and health plans is roughly $31 billion annually, making up 6.9 percent of the total costs for physician and clinical services.
Medical IT SYSTEM and to create national administrative standards for billing forms and codes, as well as procedures for the approval of treatments could save time and money.
And the FBI estimates that each year financial losses due to health care fraud range from $60 billion to $226 billion.
THANK YOU !
Posted by: hsr0601 | July 24, 2009 11:21 AM