Don't thank me. Thank the knife.

HC: Budget reconciliation process was used to pass both of the Bush tax cuts, at a total cost of $1.8 billion, about twice the cost of Obama's health care reform. Despite what the GOP says, budget reconciliation is a commonly used political tool. Republican "proposals" do nothing to remedy the problem of coverage for people with pre-existing conditions. This is not a problem in countries that have national health care, since the risk pool is the entire population. The private sector cannot provide good health care as we have come to expect it as a basic right of American citizenship. Social Security, of course, and Medicare are not mentioned in the Constitution, but today we regard those as basic rights of citizenship. That's what entitlements are: what we, as citizens, have a right to expect from the government. We do not have the right to a fancy car or an expensive house, but we should not worry about how we can afford to take care of our health.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/02/26/opinion/26krugman.html

Malpractice insurance is NOT a significant factor in the cost of health care. The insurance is high, but malpractice is inherent in practicing medicine. It is part of the cost of doing business. For every instance of someone who receives what is perceived as excessive compensation for malpractice, there are probably a dozen instances of people who did not sue in the first place, though the could deservedly have done so. The fundamental fact is that most malpractice settlements are rewarded to people who have been injured by malpractice.
http://www.salon.com/news/healthcare_reform/index.html?story=/opinion/conason/2010/02/25/summitry

Report card for health care reform summit: Dick Durban does the best, Obama very high. A- for Paul Ryan (see yesterday's post), who apparently defended well his bad proposal. At least he has one.
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2010/02/25/healthcare_summit_slide_show/slideshow.html