In Congressional Speech, Obama Must Get Specific

Employee Benefits News
September 6, 2009

In a speech before a joint session of Congress tonight, President Barack Obama will attempt to take back the wheel of the health reform debate, which veered off Democrats’ preferred course in August after heated town hall meetings and comments from key Republicans who suggested they were backing away from the negotiating table.

For months, critics have been calling for the president to put forth some firm details on his vision of health reform. Even Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.), who led the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee in Sen. Edward Kennedy’s absence, said he’d welcome more word from the White House. EBA asked our health reform panelists, now that the president is stepping up to the pulpit, is it too little, too late?

“I would never underestimate the ability of this administration to change peoples’ minds,” says Group Services’ Tom Schuetz, adding that “enough of the American public is now very skeptical, and that makes it a much tougher task.”

Cyndy Nayer, president of the Center for Health Value Innovation, says “it's never too late to do the right thing, which is to tell the country the kind of legislative bill he wants to sign.”

Convinced that shouting over thousands of pages of legislation and making multiple amendments isn’t going to solve anything, Nayer wants to hear the president state three things that he would like on his desk by a specific date. “The country needs a vision for better health,” she says. “Think of it this way: John Kennedy didn't say we were going to build the best technology to go to the moon, he said we were going to the moon. My vision, and my request to the president, is to simply say, ‘We will be the healthiest country on the planet, both clinically and economically, by 2015.’ Now that's a goal with defined deliverables.”

Obama must squarely address the issue of cost control, rather than just seek to reduce the number of uninsured Americans, says Thomas Parry, president of the Integrated Benefits Institute. “The untapped opportunity in the health care debate is to link better health, health care cost reduction and improved workforce productivity. This strategy not only will deal with a fundamental root cause of health care costs, but will also link health care reform to economic recovery.”

This can be done through reform provisions that encourage employers to play a greater role in preventative care. “IBI’s research shows employers know this approach is in their interest,” adds Parry, “and they can then use their leverage as payers with health insurers and providers to insist on more effective treatment and focused prevention initiatives.”

The fact that the president is making the speech shows that he knows he needs to lay out a stronger position on the issue and that things may not be heading in his desired direction, says Adam Bruckman, president and CEO of Digital Insurance. “It says that maybe there’s an acknowledgement that things are off track a little bit and maybe he’s losing the battle on health care reform,” Bruckman says. “But, he’s very good and very persuasive, and I think it’ll be interesting to see if he’s able to change the direction by addressing Congress.”