The nation's largest insurers, hospitals, and medical groups have hired more than 350 former government staff members and retired members of Congress in hopes of influencing their old bosses and colleagues, according to an analysis of lobbying disclosures and other records. The tactic is so widespread that three of every four major healthcare firms have at least one former insider on their lobbying payrolls, according to the analysis by the Washington Post.
In the next month, Congress will attempt the daunting feat of turning half-written proposals into healthcare reform legislation that can pass the House and the Senate before the August recess. Who would benefit from expanded coverage, who would pay for it, and how extensively the insurance and healthcare systems would be restructured were a few of the big questions left unresolved when House and Senate negotiators took a break for the Fourth of July recess. In the Senate, Democratic leaders face the additional tasks of merging vastly different proposals from two committees and foiling efforts to shrink or derail the bill as it advances on the floor.
When Congress decides how to pay for President Obama's healthcare initiative, some of his strongest political bastions may be footing a heavy bill. Some of the "bluest" states that propelled Obama into the White House are among those most likely to pay more in taxes to fund expanded health insurance coverage and make other changes to the system, analysts say. People in states such as Illinois, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and New York have a higher share of wealthier taxpayers and residents who get generous healthcare plans through work—and both sets of people may be tapped to raise money for the healthcare overhaul.
St. James Hospital and Health Centers is moving most elective surgical procedures from its Olympia Fields, IL, campus to its Chicago Heights facility as it consolidates some services to improve efficiency. The recession that began in December 2007 has helped force hospitals such as St. James to rethink the types and number of services they can offer. Now the political landscape could permanently change the way many facilities do business, as hospitals brace for huge cuts in federal health spending proposed by President Barack Obama and Congress to fund healthcare for the uninsured.
The question of whether the government should get in the health insurance business will be debated fiercely in coming months as President Obama and some Democratic lawmakers push for the creation of a government-run plan to compete with private insurance companies. But the federal government is already in the health insurance business, providing coverage to more than 45 million elderly and disabled people through Medicare. And Medicare's record offers insights into the benefits and pitfalls of public healthcare.
As President Barack Obama pushes to overhaul the American healthcare system, the role of government is at the heart of the debate. In Europe, free, state-run healthcare is a given, but the system is far from perfect. In Britain, France, Switzerland and elsewhere, public health systems have become political punching bags for opposition parties, costs have skyrocketed and in some cases, patients have needlessly suffered and died.