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Health Care Blog

  • Sebelius at HHS

    Posted by Macon Phillips on March 2, 2009 at 2:11 PM EDT

    Health and Human Services Secretary-designate Kathleen SebeliusOverhauling our health care system is going to take the will to fight entrenched special interests and lobbyists, the patience to work across party lines, and a little Kansas common sense.
    "Kathleen Sebelius has a remarkable intellect, unquestioned integrity, and the kind of pragmatic wisdom you’ll tend to find in a Kansan," President Obama said as he announced the Kansas Governor as his choice to lead the Department of Health and Human Services. "I know she will bring some much-needed grace and good humor to Washington, and she will be a tremendous asset to my cabinet."
    The governor of Kansas since 2003, Secretary-designate Sebelius has a reputation for reaching across the aisle to work with Democrats and Republicans alike, while standing firm for what she believes in the face of pressure from special interests. And before being elected governor, she served as Kansas Insurance Commissioner from 1994-2002 -- so she knows her stuff.
    That's also true of Nancy Ann DeParle, the President's choice to lead the White House Office of Health Reform and one of the nation's top health care experts. She learned firsthand how our broken health care system can impact workers and families as Tennessee's commissioner of the Department of Human Services. And she saw the big picture in the Clinton administration, where she handled health care budget issues and managed Medicare and Medicaid.
    Along with these announcements, President Obama also said today that $155M from the Recovery Act will go toward supporting 126 new health centers across the country, providing care to 750,000 Americans and creating 5,000 jobs. (Get a state-by-state breakdown of how many patients will benefit from the Recovery Act funding for community health care centers.)
    It’s just an early step in a major undertaking to lower costs and expand care that isn’t just the right thing to do – it’s absolutely necessary.
    "If we are going to help families, save businesses, and improve the long-term economic health of our nation, we must realize that fixing what’s wrong with our health care system is no longer just a moral imperative, but a fiscal imperative," the President said today. "Health care reform that reduces costs while expanding coverage is no longer just a dream we hope to achieve – it’s a necessity we have to achieve."

    Learn more about Health Care

  • A New Era of Fiscal Responsibility… And Blogging

    Posted by Jesse Lee on February 26, 2009 at 3:54 PM EDT

    To a lot of people, the budget can seem dry or wonky, and a lot of time it doesn’t get the attention that other major legislation does. But the truth is that as heavy on numbers and figures as it is, it’s a profoundly moral document, it’s a blueprint for the nation’s priorities.
    The overview for the proposed budget released by the President today is as good an example of that as you could find. For just a few examples: It sets aside more than $630 billion over ten years as a down payment towards fundamental health care reform. It makes permanent the $800 "Making Work Pay" tax cut for working families. It begins a comprehensive transformation of our energy supply by committing to a cap-and-trade system to be worked out in conjunction with Congress. The President has made clear he believes all of these issues are intertwined, so addressing these issues together represents a new comprehensive vision for the country’s future.
    All of that said, the budget is no free lunch. It makes hard decisions, eliminating hundreds of billions of dollars over the years in waste and inefficiencies in the health care system, asking those making more than $250,000 per year to chip in a little more. And as OMB Director Peter Orszag explained in a press conference with CEA Chair Christina Romer this morning, this budget proposal abandons reams of budget gimmickry practiced in previous years to hide true costs:
    "All told we are showing $2.7 trillion in costs in this budget that were excluded from previous budgets and I think that is a mark of the honesty and responsibility contained in this document."

    One of the things Orszag was known for at his last position in the Congressional Budget Office was his ability and commitment to explaining the details of budget evaluations in a straightforward way, whether that was in a Congressional hearing or on his CBO blog. He’s showing his continued commitment on that front today by launching his own blog and the newly redesigned OMB site. He has his first post up walking through the context and the outlook on the budget -- it’s worth reading in full, here’s his take on the health care provisions in the budget:

    Reforming health care. At the President’s direction, we have begun the process of doing a line-by-line review of the Budget. One of the lines we’ve started with is among the most important to the budget and to many other aspects of our economy: health care.

    As I have long said, health care is the key to our nation’s fiscal future – and there are substantial efficiency improvements that are possible to deliver better results at lower costs in the health system. In the Recovery Act and in this Budget, we begin to make the investments necessary to bring about these efficiencies over the long-term—such electronic health records and comparative effectiveness research—and also identify more immediate saving measures to slow the growth of Medicare and Medicaid spending. These savings are devoted to a health reserve fund, which will be available as we work through the legislative process on health care reform this year. This proposal is a starting point, not an ending point, for health reform as additional resources will be needed to improve and expand health care for all Americans.
    Orszag also talked on video to us about why he thinks blogging is so worthwhile:
    Looking for more in-depth information on the budget? The OMB site has you covered and then some, including fact sheets relating to federal every agency.

    Learn more about Fiscal Responsibility, Health Care

  • Do the right thing

    Posted by Macon Phillips on February 10, 2009 at 10:25 PM EDT

    "No matter what you do, you can't pass a law that makes somebody do the right thing, right?"
    That was First Lady Michelle Obama's message to a group of young people she met with on a visit to Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care, a Washington, D.C. nonprofit that provides a range of social services.
    Instead, she said, it's the responsibility of every individual, family, and community to do the right thing. But where you come from shouldn't be a barrier to success.
    "I didn't come into this position with a lot of wealth, with a lot of resources," she said. "There is no magic dust that was sprinkled on my head or on Barack's head. You know, we were kids much like you who figured out one day that our fate was in our own hands, you know, and we made decisions to listen to our parents and to work hard and to work even harder when somebody doubted us."
    See photos from the event below, or read the full transcript of the First Lady's meeting at the center.

    Learn more about Health Care, Working Families

  • Covering kids

    Posted by Macon Phillips on February 5, 2009 at 11:55 AM EDT

    After Gregory Secrest lost his job at American of Martinsville, a Virginia-based furniture manufacturer, he also lost his access to healthcare.
    "When I gave the bad news to my family, my 9-year old son handed me his piggy bank with $4 inside and said 'daddy, if you need it, you take it,'" Secrest said.
    But thanks to FAMIS, Virginia’s State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP), the Secrest children will be covered.
    "In a decent society, there are certain obligations that are not subject to tradeoffs or negotiations, and health care for our children is one of those obligations," the President said in remarks before signing legislation that reauthorizes federal funding for the CHIP programs and expands its coverage from 7 to 11 million children.
    Unfortunately, given the state of our economy, more families like the Secrests risk losing their health care. It makes the signing of the CHIP Reauthorization, which funds health care for families who don't qualify for Medicaid but still can't afford private insurance, all the more important. And it makes the passage of the stimulus package, which would not only invest in prevention and wellness but also extend health insurance for the unemployed, all the more necessary.
    Read the President's full remarks below.
     
    REMARKS BY THE PRESIDENT
    AT SIGNING OF
    CHILDREN'S HEALTH INSURANCE PROGRAM LEGISLATION
    East Room, The White House
    February 4, 2009
    THE PRESIDENT: All right. Please, everybody have a seat. This is good. This is good. (Laughter and applause.) Today, with one of the first bills that I sign -- reauthorizing the Children's Health Insurance Program -- we fulfill one of the highest responsibilities that we have: to ensure the health and well-being of our nation's children.
    It's a responsibility that's only grown more urgent as our economic crisis deepens, as health care costs have exploded and millions of working families are unable to afford health insurance. Today in America, 8 million children are still uninsured -- more than 45 million Americans altogether.
    And it's hard to overstate the toll this takes on families: the sleepless nights worrying about somebody getting hurt, or praying that a sick child gets better on her own; the decisions that no parent should ever have to make -- how long to put off that doctor's appointment, whether to fill that prescription, whether to let a child play outside, knowing that all it takes is one accident, one injury, to send your family into financial ruin.
    The families joining us today know these realities firsthand. When Gregory Secrest, from Martinsville, Virginia, lost his job back in August, his kids lost their health care. When he broke the news to his family, his nine-year-old son -- where are you? -- that's you, I thought so -- (laughter) -- handed over his piggy bank with $4 in it, and told his father, "Daddy, if you need it, you take it."
    Now, this is not who we are. We're not a nation that leaves struggling families to fend for themselves, especially when they've done everything right. No child in America should be receiving his or her primary care in the emergency room in the middle of the night. No child should be falling behind at school because he can't hear the teacher or see the blackboard. I refuse to accept that millions of our children fail to reach their full potential because we fail to meet their basic needs. In a decent society, there are certain obligations that are not subject to tradeoffs or negotiations, and health care for our children is one of those obligations.
    (Applause.)
    That is why we have passed this legislation. These legislators have passed this legislation on a bipartisan basis to continue coverage for 7 million children, cover an additional 4 million children in need, and finally lift the ban on states providing insurance to legal immigrant children if they choose to do so.
    (Applause.)
    Since it was created more than 10 years ago, the Children's Health Insurance Program has been a lifeline for millions of children whose parents work full time and don't qualify for Medicaid, but through no fault of their own don't have -- and can't afford -- private insurance. For millions of children who fall into that gap, CHIP has provided care when they're sick and preventive services to help them stay well. This legislation will allow us to continue and build on these successes.
    But, as I think everybody here will agree, this is only the first step. The way I see it, providing coverage to 11 million children through CHIP is a down payment on my commitment to cover every single American. (Applause.) And it is just one component of a much broader effort to finally bring our health care system into the 21st century. And that's why the Economic Recovery and Reinvestment Plan that's now before Congress is so important.
    Now, think about this -- if Congress passes this recovery plan, in just one month, we will have done more to modernize our health care system than we've done in the past decade.
    We'll be on our way to computerizing all of America's medical records, which won't just -- (applause) -- it won't -- won't just eliminate inefficiencies, won't just save billions of dollars and create tens of thousands of jobs -- but it will save lives by reducing deadly medical errors. We'll have made the single largest investment in prevention and wellness in history -- tacking problems like smoking and obesity, and helping people live longer, healthier lives. And we'll have extended health insurance for the unemployed, so that workers who lose their jobs don't lose their health care, too. (Applause.)
    Now let me say this. In the past few days I've heard criticisms of this plan that frankly echo the very same failed theories that helped lead us into this crisis in the first place -- the notion that tax cuts alone will solve all our problems; that we can address this enormous crisis with half-steps and piecemeal measures and tinkering around the edges; that we can ignore fundamental challenges like the high cost of health care and still expect our economy and our country to thrive.
    I reject these theories, and, by the way, so did the American people when they went to the polls in November and voted resoundingly for change. (Applause.) So I urge members of Congress to act without delay. No plan is perfect, and all of us together, Democrats and Republicans, should work to make it stronger. But let's not make the perfect the enemy of the essential. Let's show people all over our country who are looking for leadership, who are desperate for leadership right now, that in difficult times we're equal to the task. Let's give America's families the support they need to weather this crisis.
    In the end, that's really all that people like the Secrests are looking for -- the chance to work hard, and to have that hard work translate into a good life for their children. I'm pleased to report that the Secrest story had a happy ending -- it turned out that Gregory's two sons were eligible for SCHIP, and they are now fully covered, much to his relief and his wife's relief. I think Gregory put it best when he said: "Kids look at us and think that we will take of them." That's -- every parent here has the experience. You look at your children and you know that they're looking back at you and they're saying, "You're going to take care of me, aren't you?" That's our job, to keep them health -- healthy and to keep them safe, and to let them dream as big as their dreams will take them.
    That's what I think about when I tuck my own girls into bed each night. And that's what I want for every child, every family in this nation. That's why it's so important that Congress passes our recovery plan so we can get to work rebuilding America's health care system.
    It won't be easy; it won't happen all at once. But this bill that I'm about to sign, that wasn't easy, either. (Laughter.) It didn't happen all at once, either. And yet, here it is, waiting for me to sign. The bill I sign today is a critical first step. So I want to thank all of the state and local officials, all the advocates and ordinary Americans across this great country who fought so hard to get it passed. I want to personally thank every single member of Congress who is here -- a bipartisan group who worked tirelessly -- (applause) -- worked tirelessly for so long that we could see this day. And I want you all to know that I am confident that if we work together, if we come together, we can finally achieve what generations of Americans have fought for and fulfill the promise of health care in our time.
    So thank you very much, everybody. Thank you. (Applause.)
    (The bill is signed.) (Applause.)

    Learn more about Economy, Health Care

  • CHIP

    Posted by Macon Phillips on February 4, 2009 at 7:10 PM EDT

    With a stroke of a pen, millions more children now have health care.
    President Obama signed the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIP) tonight, which renews and expands the plan from 7 million children affected to 11 million.
    "This is only the first step," he said. "As I see it, providing coverage for 11 million children is a down payment on my commitment to cover every single American."
    We'll have more on CHIP tomorrow, but there's one more thing worth noting -- President Obama is sending a new message, loud and clear, to opponents of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan.
    It came first in remarks this afternoon, following an announcement of strict new executive compensation rules:
    "In the past few days I've heard criticisms that this plan is somehow wanting, and these criticisms echo the very same failed economic theories that led us into this crisis in the first place -- the notion that tax cuts alone will solve all our problems; that we can ignore fundamental challenges like energy independence and the high cost of health care; that we can somehow deal with this in a piecemeal fashion and still expect our economy and our country to thrive. I reject those theories. And so did the American people when they went to the polls in November and voted resoundingly for change. So I urge members of Congress to act without delay. No plan is perfect, and we should work to make it stronger. No one is more committed to making it stronger than me. But let's not make the perfect the enemy of the essential. Let's show people all over the country who are looking for leadership in this difficult time that we are equal to the task."
    He made similar remarks just a few minutes ago as he signed the CHIP Act.

    Learn more about Economy, Health Care, Working Families

  • Latest version of SCHIP legislation published for comment

    Posted by Macon Phillips on February 1, 2009 at 8:40 PM EDT

    On January 29th, the U.S. Senate approved the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009, better known as the State Children's Health Insurance Program or SCHIP. Once signed into law, this legislation will continue coverage for six to seven million children and increase that coverage to four million more.
    Since this version of the bill is expected to pass the House of Representatives in the coming week, we are making the legislation available for public comment now.

    Learn more about Economy, Health Care, Working Families

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