Blue Mass Group

Reality-based commentary on politics.

Zekes! New ‘czar’ supports vouchers. Is this health care reform?

By

And in June, he published a book advocating replacing the current health care structure with a voucher system.

A quick look at Zeke’s book (here: http://tinyurl.com/aete2t ) reveals that he considers Single Payer “outdated” and considers mandates a “mistake.”

2) While Zeke has been stationed at OMB, the Heath Care Czar staff in waiting have packed up and moved back to HSS (read demotion):

There was bound to be a power struggle between Daschle and the White House policy and budget experts over health care. This is why Daschle insisted on having a line into the White House as the health czar and the perch at health and human services. But with Daschle gone, and the search for an HHS secretary dragging into its fourth week, the budget experts have emerged as the key players – at least for the time being.

Politico story here: http://tinyurl.com/b6n7tm

Would love to hear details from someone who has read Zeke’s book or know’s his thinking better than I.

Please share widely!
fb-share-icon
Tweet
0

Comments

  1. That’s what the vouchers are about. Read Ezra (jeez, I lean a lot on that poor guy):

    Similarly, Ezekiel Emanuel — brother of Rahm Emanuel — has been stepping into a more prominent role on health reform. Emanuel is no newcomer to the effort: he was part of the 1994 process and has, in recent years, partnered with Victor Fuchs to push a proposal for health care vouchers that looks rather a lot like Ron Wyden’s plan. Indeed, Emanuel’s thinking proved so sympathetic to Wyden’s approach that the two partnered in early-December to co-write an op-ed for The Wall Street Journal editorial page.

    <

    p>I’ve never really understood the framework of Wyden’s plan all that well, but it has some advantages: Cost-containment, government subsidies for the lower part of the income spectrum, and a clean break with employer-supplied health insurance. And Sen. Bennet from Utah is on board, IIRC.

    <

    p>I don’t think that the “vouchers” aspect of it should necessarily ring alarm bells. I remember GIC head Dolores Mitchell saying she didn’t like vouchers b/c by “atomizing” the purchasing market, they would prevent someone like her from negotiating better deals with bulk purchasing. But vouchers shouldn’t be a non-starter, from what I know. I may change my mind.

  2. As Dr. John Halamka points out on his blog, former HCFA administrator Nancy-Ann DeParle has been appointed Counselor to the President and Director of the White House Office for Health Reform.

  3. You will be mandated to buy health insurance.

    <

    p>Rather than fix the system billions are going to IT to make medical records permanently digital and therefore accessable to the myriads of financial scammers so they can raise rates on all types of insurance products.
    http://www.patientprivacyright…

    <

    p>Armed with all of this info rationing of care will commence.

    <

    p>Big pharma may be surpassing the evil nature and influence of the military industrial complex Eisenhower warned us all about as any long term user of naturalnews would know.

    <

    p>Go ahead try giving me a mandatory shot, I’ll stick it in your eye.

  4. can’t we just freaking get over ourselves and go single-payer. “Old fashioned?” It works in pretty much every other modern country, far better than our system. Why do we have to reinvent the wheel? Oh, that’s right, so we don’t take away from the murdering bastards millionaires and billionaires in the health insurance industry.  

Archives