Sen. Pat Roberts, R-Kan., used a poor analogy when he said last week that a new report on health care reform was “like Pearl Harbor . . . a day of infamy.’’ But the assessment by economic analysts at the Department of Health and Human Services does show how the Democratic reform plans don’t do enough to control costs. The report concluded that the nation’s total health care spending, public and private, would go up more rapidly if Congress passed health care reform than if it did nothing — though it should be noted that about 33 million more Americans would have health insurance coverage under the reform plan. The report also doubted whether Congress would have the political will to make Medicare reimbursement cuts, which are supposed to help pay for the reform.
“It is abundantly clear,” wrote New York Times economics reporter David Leonhardt, “that our medical system wastes enormous amounts of money on health care that doesn’t make people healthier. . . .Yet every time Congress comes up with an idea for cutting spending, the cry goes out: Patients will suffer! You’re cutting bone, not fat! How can this be? How can there be billions of dollars of general waste and no specific waste? There can’t, of course. The only way to cut health care costs is to cut health care costs and, in the process, invite politically potent scare stories.”
Leonhardt was encouraged by recent efforts in the Senate to control health care costs, such as by reducing reimbursements to home health agencies and pushing insurers to use standardized payment systems.
Given USD 259’s financial challenges, it makes sense for it to consider selling some land on the Northwest High School campus along 13th and Tyler. Even if it sells 12 acres — which is the proposal before the Wichita school board tonight, as part of a joint deal to purchase land for a new southeast Wichita high school — there still will be plenty of open land around the high school. But the district and school board need to make sure they are getting a fair price. Several Wichita commercial Realtors told The Eagle that the sales price of the land was low.
“I don’t want to say this Obama love is out of control, but his acceptance speech for the Nobel Prize just won a Pulitzer Prize, and his overall performance has just won an Oscar.” — Craig Ferguson
“The chairman of the Nobel committee remarked that Obama’s leadership is a ‘call to action,’ not to be confused with Bill Clinton’s leadership, which was a call to get action.” — Jimmy Fallon
“In Minnesota, a man was arrested because he threw two tomatoes at Sarah Palin during a book signing. Security immediately arrested the guy and gave him his own show on MSNBC.” — Conan O’Brien
“Santa Claus is working very hard with his elves to make sure every child gets at least one toy this Christmas, or as Glenn Beck calls that, ‘socialism.’” — Jay Leno
“According to the CIA, Osama bin Laden periodically sneaks into Afghanistan. Well, a guy’s got to have fun. You know what I mean? What happens in Kabul stays in Kabul.” — David Letterman
