President-Elect Obama Calls for Swift Action on Economic Stimulus Bill That Could Include Medicaid Funding for States

President-elect Barack Obama on Friday and Saturday outlined his priorities for action after he takes office and said he first would focus on an economic stimulus package, followed by energy and health care, the New York Times reports (Baker, New York Times, 11/9). The stimulus package likely would include additional federal Medicaid funds for states (Cho et al., Washington Post, 11/8).

In the event that Congress and President Bush do not enact a stimulus package this month during the lame-duck session, "it will be the first thing I get done as president," Obama said at a press conference on Friday (Pickler/Hunt, AP/Miami Herald, 11/7). During a radio address on Saturday, Obama said, "We can't afford to wait on moving forward on the key priorities that I identified during the campaign, including clean energy, health care, education and tax relief for middle-class families" (Baker, New York Times, 11/9).

According to Reuters, senior Obama aides on Sunday said that the current economic downturn "will not stop" action on his agenda for health care and other issues "soon after he takes office" (Sullivan, Reuters, 11/9). However, Obama might seek to enact a "less ambitious" health care proposal than the plan that he announced during his presidential campaign, according to health care experts, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. Reauthorization and expansion of SCHIP is the "only possible slam dunk" health care proposal, and Medicare "is also expected to be high on the agenda," with a proposal to reduce or end subsidies to health insurers that offer Medicare Advantage plans, according to the Chronicle (Colliver, San Francisco Chronicle, 11/9).

Additional Developments
Summaries of several other recent developments related to health care issues in the new Obama administration appear below.

• Biotechnology industry: Biotech industry advocates have raised concerns that Obama and congressional Democrats might "put tough pressure on drug prices as the new president tries to realize his campaign vision of expanded health care coverage for Americans at substantially lower cost" and "bring policy reversals" at FDA, the Chronicle reports. In an effort to reduce medication costs, Obama has proposed to increase the use of generic treatments, authorize Medicare to negotiate directly with pharmaceutical companies on prices under the prescription drug benefit and allow reimportation of medications from industrialized nations. James Greenwood, president of the Biotechnology Industry Organization, said that he hopes to convince Obama and congressional Democrats not to implement such proposals, which he maintains would undermine incentives for investment in biotech companies (Tansey, San Francisco Chronicle, 11/9).
  
  
• Labor unions: Unions "plan to push for universal health coverage" and an economic stimulus package after Obama takes office as president, the Times reports. According to the Times, union members plan to "urge Mr. Obama and Congress to enact ... universal health coverage in the 100 days after Inauguration Day" on Jan. 20, 2009 (Greenhouse, New York Times, 11/9).
  
  
• Physicians for a National Health Program: More than 15,000 physicians have asked Obama to enact a bill (HR 676) that would establish a not-for-profit, single-payer health care system, the KHI News Service reports. The group recently sent a letter to Obama and congressional Democrats that asked them to "do the right thing" and enact the legislation, which the physicians maintain could reduce U.S. health care costs by more than $350 billion annually (Shields, KHI News Service, 11/6).

Editorials
Summaries of several recent editorials that addressed health care issues in the Obama administration appear below.

• Atlanta Journal-Constitution: Important issues, such as health care and Medicare reform, "demand to be addressed" by Obama in his first term, but he likely will not have the ability to address those concerns because of the "more pressing and immediate issue of the economy" and two wars, according to an Atlanta Journal-Constitution editorial. "Working through this mess will require the same sense of discipline, vision and commitment to long-term strategy that Obama and his staff displayed in the campaign," the editorial states (Bookman, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 11/9).
  
  
• Charlotte Observer: "Congress's failure to address" the growing cost of Medicare and Social Security "is a disgrace," and it something "we'd like to see them tackle," an Observer editorial states. "Medicare's implosion, which is a certainty if nothing changes, will make the Wall Street bailout look cheap," so as "painful as reforming the system will be, it would hurt even more to wait, and would put an immense burden on our children," the Observer continues. In addition, "Congress must expand [SCHIP]" and "approve public funding for stem cell research" (Charlotte Observer, 11/10).
  
  
• Philadelphia Daily News: The problems with the U.S. health care system "alone would be a handful for a new administration," but Obama "also needs to fix the economy and deal with two wars," a Daily News editorial states. "Maybe that's a good thing because solving the health care crisis will take a lot more than a plan for solving the health care crisis," the editorial states, adding, "In addition to the reform that the health care delivery system needs, serious reform in Washington and in politics will also be necessary." The editorial states, "What's tragic about this system that remains broken is that our very health and well-being depend on it," adding, "Transforming it from a political football is Barack Obama's ultimate challenge" (Philadelphia Daily News, 11/10).
  
  
• San Jose Mercury News: "The hardest choices for Barack Obama in the weeks to come won't be deciding what to do in his first months in office, but rather what he shouldn't try to do," a Mercury News editorial states. "While Obama feels pressured to move quickly" on comprehensive health care reform, "rushing into this one could again set reform back," the editorial states, adding, "If he believes, as we do, that it's extremely important, he won't take the chance." In an effort to avoid "stirring controversy, the new president can make an immediate, substantial down payment on improving health care to keep faith with his supporters and improve the lives of millions of Americans," according to the editorial. The editorial recommends that Obama seek to expand SCHIP to "cover as many children as possible when it comes up for renewal in March"; authorize the "federal government to negotiate bulk purchases of Medicare prescription drugs," which "will reduce Americans' costs by billions of dollars"; and promote a "push for electronic medical records, which will save lives as well as cut costs." The editorial concludes, "When times improve, health care reform will fare better" (San Jose Mercury News, 11/9).
  
  
• St. Louis Post-Dispatch: "Fixing our dysfunctional, fractured health system, won't, by itself, solve the nation's economic crisis," but "ignoring it will make the crisis worse," a Post-Dispatch editorial states. "The current health care crisis provides an opportunity to accomplish something that a half-dozen presidents have tried and failed to do: Create a more rational health care system that covers all Americans," according to the editorial. In addition, the editorial recommends passing an economic stimulus package that includes additional money for state Medicaid programs, as well as a measure to expand SCHIP. The editorial continues, "Obama hardly needs more advice, but we'd suggest that you can't fix America's economic crisis without addressing its health care crisis," adding, "Do that, and they'll make room on Mount Rushmore" (St. Louis Post-Dispatch, 11/9).

Opinion Pieces
Summaries of several recent opinion pieces that addressed health care issues in the Obama administration appear below.

• Rep. John Boehner (R-Ohio), Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The results of the election last week are not a "sign that Republicans should give Democrats on both ends of Pennsylvania Avenue a free ride," as U.S. residents "did not vote for higher taxes to fund a redistribution of wealth; drastic cuts in funding for our troops; the end of secret ballots for workers participating in union elections; more costly obstacles to American energy production; or the imposition of government-run health care on employers and working families," House Minority Leader Boehner writes in a Journal-Constitution opinion piece. Boehner writes, "Republicans have a responsibility to offer a better way," adding, "We'll ... offer health care reforms that empower patients and doctors, promote a strong military that keeps us on offense to protect the American people," among other proposals (Boehner, Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 11/9).
  
  
• Albert Reece, Baltimore Sun: "As president, Barack Obama should increase funding" to NIH "as one of his top priorities, not only for improving the health of the nation but also for jump-starting the national economy," Reece, vice president for medical affairs at the University of Maryland and dean of the UM School of Medicine, writes in a Post opinion piece. He writes, "Since 2004, the NIH's budget has been reduced by more than 13% after factoring in inflation," a trend that has "significantly slowed progress on many critical biomedical research programs on diseases and conditions that threaten the lives of tens of millions Americans each year" and is "harming our national economy." Reece writes, "Unfortunately, the drastic decline in funding for the NIH is forcing academic medical centers across the country to curtail lifesaving research while crimping our ability to create high-paying, sustainable jobs." He concludes, "By increasing funding to NIH to where it should be today, Mr. Obama will be benefiting the nation's physical and economic health" (Reece, Baltimore Sun, 11/9).
  
  
• Darrell West, Cleveland Plain Dealer: Although Democrats control Congress, Obama should "avoid complacency" and place priority on "leadership" and "coalition-building" to achieve success, Darrell, vice president and director of governance studies at the Brooking Institution, writes in a Plain Dealer opinion piece. According to West, Obama should "[t]ackle legislative proposals that naturally attract support across party lines," including expansion of SCHIP, and "legislative items that avoid reignited bitter partisan battles (West, Cleveland Plain Dealer, 11/7).
  
  
• Robert Goldberg, Detroit Free Press: "We might have health insurance under Obama's plan," but "getting care will be another story altogether," as patient "neglect is endemic to public insurance programs" and many "Americans have attested to the problems involved with getting even basic medical care from a public provider," Goldberg, vice president of the Center for Medicine in the Public Interest, writes in a Free Press opinion piece. He writes, "The theory is that" a comparative effectiveness center "could reduce government health care expenses by ensuring that public insurance doesn't cover new drugs that aren't worth the higher price tag" and that the savings "could finance additional expansions of public insurance." However, the "problem is, a comparative effectiveness center has a financial incentive to find that new treatments shouldn't be covered," Goldberg writes, adding, "The agency is run by the government -- but the government also has to pay for whatever treatments it approves" (Goldberg, Detroit Free Press, 11/7).
  
  
• Guy Boulton, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: "To the list of challenges facing President-elect Barack Obama should be added one more: expectations," and "health care reform ranks high among those expectations," Journal Sentinel columnist Boulton writes. He adds, "Obama made health care reform a central issue in his campaign," and although the current economic downturn "could present an opportunity, as more people lose their jobs and their health insurance," his "proposals to reform health care ... were crafted with political reality in mind." According to Boulton, the "inherent obstacles to health care reform in the United States should never be underestimated," and the "president-elect's proposals on health care will be no more than a starting point" (Boulton, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 11/8).
  
  
• David Broder, Washington Post: Several Republican governors elected and re-elected last week have accomplishments on health care, Post columnist Broder writes. "Is there a lesson in these successes for the GOP?" Broder asks (Broder, Washington Post, 11/9).
  
  
• E.J. Dionne, Washington Post: "Obama should be wary of any counsel" from conservatives and others who "are trying to stop Obama from pursuing any of the ideas that he campaigned on -- universal access to health care, a government-led green revolution, redistributive tax policies, a withdrawal of American troops from Iraq, more robust economic regulation," Post columnist Dionne writes. He writes, "The public's desire for more government action to heal the economy and guarantee health insurance coverage, along with its new skepticism about the deregulation of business, suggests that we are a moderate country that now leans slightly and warily left" (Dionne, Washington Post, 11/10).
  
  
• Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.), Washington Post: "Obama has issued a clarion call for action on health care," and his "practical and thoughtful proposals draw from our Massachusetts experience and add important measures to improve quality and reduce costs," Kennedy, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, writes in a Post opinion piece. He writes, Obama's plan "includes crucial investments in modernizing the use of information technology in health care," and Obama "calls for a new emphasis on prevention and wellness, because the best way to treat a disease is to prevent it from striking." Kennedy writes, "It is painfully obvious that our health care system costs Americans too much, costs employers too much, denies too much needed care and leaves out too many Americans." The "rising cost of health care is clearly contributing to the troubled economy and needlessly strains family pocketbooks," Kennedy writes, adding, "Even worse, these costs are expected to climb higher, more than doubling in the next 10 years" (Kennedy, Washington Post, 11/9).
  
  
• Rich Lowry, Washington Post: Republican presidential nominee Sen. John McCain (Ariz.) "didn't seem to have a firm grasp on his own" health care proposal, and the "Obama campaign successfully distorted it as a huge new tax increase," National Review editor Lowry writes in a Post opinion piece. "Conservatives were outraged by many things during the election season, but Obama's dishonest and brutally effective attack on McCain's plan wasn't one of them," he writes, adding, "Even though it addresses a top public concern, health care policy still doesn't move the right." Lowry writes, "Connecting better on the economy and middle-class pocketbook and quality-of-life issues will go a long way toward alleviating the troubles" the Republican Party had in the election and "will require refreshing the conservative policy arsenal with innovative proposals that will look more like McCain's health care plan than the old tried and true" (Lowry, Washington Post, 11/9).
  
  
• Annys Shin, Washington Post: "During the long election campaign, Sen. Barack Obama promised many things," such as health care reform, Post columnist Shin writes. "When he first announced some of his proposals, the economy and the federal budget looked vastly different," but "now the bad news has multiplied," Shin writes, adding, "The high cost and complexity of reforming the health care system also could slow some of the president-elect's initiatives." Shin writes, "Among his proposals: requiring that all children be covered, expanding access to Medicaid, creating a tax credit to help small businesses cover their workers." Shin asks, "So how will President Obama's pocketbook promises evolve as he moves from campaigning to governing?" Shin writes, "Now comes the reality" (Shin, Washington Post, 11/9).