As the President and his "new advocates", the health care and pharmaceutical industry executives met in the White House yesterday to discuss health care reform, they pledged to save $2 Trillion dollars over the next 10 years. According to Press Secretary Gibbs, Obama told industry executives, "You've made a commitment; we expect you to keep it."
The problem is the "commitment" is all voluntary. Nothing is enforceable and no savings are guaranteed.
It should be recalled when Bush Treasury Secretary Paulson announced the bailout of the banks he said he "hoped" they would start lending again. We all know what happened with the banks. They continued paying outragious bonuses to those who helped create the financial meltdown and the "hoped for" lending never materialized.
Expecting the health care and pharmaceutical industries (or any for profit industry) to voluntarily do anything is tantamount to their doing nothing, particularly if there are no requirements, controls, oversight and enforcement of their "commitment."
The health care and pharmaceutical execs. know health care reform is on Obama's agenda. What they dread is a single payer national health care system that is affordable and they couldn't compete with. By offering trillions in savings they will "voluntarily" give up is like expecting the oil industry to voluntarily support ecological efforts that would reduce their profits.
The health care "savings" has Rube Goldberg written all over it.
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