Real health care reform would put a halt to some of the $700 billion wasted each year in treatment and other expenses that do nothing to improve health.
The House bill does adopt new insurance rules and gets nearly everyone covered. But the consensus of news organizations around the country – and across the political spectrum – is that the bill passed by the U.S. House will do little to curb rampant medical spending.
Let’s not lose sight of real reforms that have the potential to reduce costs for everyone.
These people are also asking, "What's the real cost?"
Washington Post: Editorial: Flawed health reform
“As we have said, it does not do enough to control costs, and it is not funded in a sustainable way. Expanding coverage for the uninsured is imperative, but so, too, is getting the country on a credible fiscal path."
The Columbus Dispatch: Editorial: Cooking the Books
“Americans want an improvement in the nation's health-care system, not only for themselves but for their neighbors. But they should not be saddled with an unsustainable, unaffordable overhaul sold to them with accounting gimmicks and rosy projections.”
Huffington Post: Cost containment remains the missing piece
The most important debate - how to slow the inexorable growth of health care costs - has scarcely begun…. The House bill fails to deal seriously with the long-term challenge of reducing the unsustainable pace at which health care costs grow each year. That is what drives premiums up for working Americans, helps to price U.S. businesses out of global competition, and escalates spending on Medicare and Medicaid.
Philadelphia Inquirer: Historic but unaffordable
House plan … is unaffordable despite bearing the title "Affordable Health Care for America Act." Unfortunately, the House measure does little to rein in escalating health-care costs, and that, in the end, would harm the middle class and small businesses alike.
New York Times: How to control rising health costs
With the House’s passage of a health care bill and the Senate legislation possibly moving to the floor for debate next week, many analysts are saying that neither bill goes far enough to slow rising health care costs — an issue that President Obama has made central to his reform agenda.
San Diego Union-Tribune: Fear of health ‘reform’ is warranted
“Consider the…basic promises about…health overhaul: that it actually would save money, that the only new taxes would be on the very wealthy and that individuals would be free to keep their present coverage and doctors. Each of these claims is a myth.”
Denver Post: A long way to go on health reform
Los Angeles Times: Health care’s hurdles
Atlantic: The case for a cost containment commission
The Salt Lake Tribune: Health care reform
