Dr. Ron Anderson, President/CEO of Parkland Hospital System in Dallas, and Dr. John Goodman, President/CEO of the National Center for Policy Analysis, recently debated the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
Dr. Anderson opened his comments by mentioning the McCuistion Program, on which he and John Goodman have taken have expressed very divergent views on health care. According to Dr. Anderson, “we need a safety net institution; the market doesn’t always work. We need a bias toward value not volume and to be involved in shifting the paradigm toward preventive care.”
Dr. Goodman comments on how surprisingly they agreed more than disagreed on many issues: “I had a lively discussion about how health reform will affect the nation’s health care system. Ron is a nationally known advocate of national health insurance. I am at the other end of the spectrum. This may have been the first formal debate over the bill since its passage. What was remarkable was not how much we disagreed, but how much we agreed. In particular, we both think:
Emergency room traffic will increase rather than decrease. Access to care for seniors and the disabled will be so impaired that they are at risk of becoming like Medicaid enrollees -forced to seek care at community health centers and safety-net hospitals. And extraordinary discretionary power is being given to one federal agency to make decisions that will affect everyone.”
You can also view the entire discussion by going here.
John C. Goodman is president and CEO of the National Center for Policy Analysis. The Wall Street Journal and the National Journal, among other publications, have called him the “Father of Health Savings Accounts,” and the Media Research Center credits him, along with former Sen. Phil Gramm and columnist Bill Kristol with playing the pivotal role in the defeat of the Clinton Administration’s plan to overhaul the U.S. health care system. He is also the Kellye Wright Fellow in health care.
Dr. John Goodman joined us via taped interview for a segment on health care for the McCuistion 20th Anniversary Program series. Considered one of the key “conservative” experts on health care, he presented his conservative views on health care reform. He had this to say in answer to my [Niki McCuistion] questions on the state of health care today and health cares’ new future, given the changes in the new administration plans. According to Dr. John Goodman, “Health care today is dysfunctional and has perverse incentives… Today, costs are higher, quality is lower and access is more difficult.”
While discussing his conservative views on health care reform, Dr. John Goodman talked about the billions of dollars being spent on health care for the elderly and the young. “It’s too easy now for people to wait to get health insurance till after they are sick and access to health care gets worse. There’s nothing that inspires me to have confidence in what is presently being proposed.”
Yet considering, he still believes there are good things going on relevant to health care; “from 12-13 million people managing their own health costs; to urgent care and walk in clinics and overall a free market for health care”. Dr. Goodman cited the way we can cross the border and get good health care at a fraction of what we pay in the US. And he voiced a concern over boomers and their numbers overwhelming the health care system, “We’re just not ready for them. They think all of these promises were made and there’s not going to be enough money to fulfill them.”
I asked what would you have taxpayers do? His answer,” Liberate the doctor and patient. Let the patient control the money and let doctors compete on price and quality.” For a sobering look at health care today and Dr. Goodman’s conservative views on health care reform, watch and listen to what Dr. John Goodman has to say.
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Niki Nicastro McCuistion
Executive Producer/Producer
McCuistion
