White House Budget Director Peter Orszag would like to know what treatments work for him — a middle-aged white male who exercises. And he thinks healthcare reform efforts should focus in part on getting that kind of information to everyone.
Experts on healthcare, lobbyists and politicians started a final crunch on Tuesday to try and put together a healthcare reform package that will lower costs, help more Americans get insurance, and improve the less-than-optimal care that most patients now get.
Orszag assured Congress that the White House was leaving the details to lawmakers — but dropped hints about what he would like to see. One example — a new agency or framework for comparing medical treatments, including drugs, head-to-head.
“For me as patient, I would like my doctor to have better information about what might help a middle-aged, marathon-running male than he currently has,” Orszag told a Senate Finance Committe hearing.
“I mean, a great example is prostate cancer. And there are hugely different treatments. And we don’t know which ones work better,” he added.
Drug makers sponsor most drug trials and they usually compare their new drugs to placebos, not to existing drugs.
Orszag bets that private insurers and Medicare would drop some new and expensive drugs if they could not be shown to work better than older, cheaper treatments.
REUTERS/Yuri Gripas (OMB Director Peter Orszag prepares to testify)
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10 comments so far
obama passing the buck again, the same as he did with the spend bill,leave it to congress which means perlosi and company will start the extravagance again.does he think that if it goes wrong he can distance himself from it?
- Posted by brian leeBill Maher summed it up nicely when Larry King asked him about healthcare reform. He said people need to get up off their butts (not the word he used) and take care of themselves. That is the crux. We are a nation of overweight people with multiple chronic conditions. Put some real meat behind incentives for people to stay healthy. Self responsibility is the cure for healthcare reform.
Anthony Cirillo, FACHE
- Posted by Anthony Cirilloresults of the latest research show we are behind germany ,england ,canada and italy,in terms of value for money from what we pay for health coverage.sorry tc this was discussed yesterday ,wednesday on fox news,and the resident doctor he agreed with the results of the research.my wifes boss retired last year and for her to maintain her coverage using cobra was going to cost,1200 per month with a average deductible.she tried to join 3 different hmo,s and was refused acceptance because she has elevated blood pressure although controlled.she has never had any other health problems ever,what is your suggestion tc?
- Posted by brian leeMy only point about health care is that be careful what you wish for. I have seen first hand what government run health care does to the care of people. As you grow older, you will not get the same care you are used to now, even if you pay a little more now. Just be careful, it isn’t going to be a bed of roses.
Where are we going to get the money to pay for government health care? Obama wants to “put aside” (from where?) 640 billion dollars over 10 years as a “downpayment” on universal health care. First of all, we don’t have 640 billion dollars (we are broke) to put toward this system. Second, that means rationing will result even though our taxes will have to skyrocket to help pay for this system.
I think, in the end, we won’t save any money at all.
If the solution was easy, then there would be no debate. But debate is what we need rather than to slip it quietly into a huge spending bill hoping no one notices. One thing I am certain of, Obama doesn’t want debate, he wants to force his brand of change on the rest of us.
Frankly, it scares me.
- Posted by TCtc i can tell by your postings that we are both christian conservatives and i appreciate that.the guy who prepares my taxes talked about what romney did,he is also a conservative ,suggests that they pay 16 dollars tax every week and every one has health cover and it works ,have you any contrary information?
- Posted by brian leeWhether it works or not, I do not want government to control my health care for the reasons I already stated.
I am originally from Massachusetts and most of my family is still there. From what I understand, under the state health care system you are forced to join or you will pay a fine. I don’t like that and I resent anyone saying I have to join into something I don’t want or need. Again, government control of health care is not the answer. Also, people are not all that happy with the system they were forced to join. That’s all I really have to offer on that one.
However, I do like Romney because he is a businessman and I truly believe he would have been the one to navigate us out of this “crisis”. He is a proven business leader in that regard (no, I am not talking about health care when describing what I like about him). He did a wonderful job on the Olympics.
Look Brian, you should understand that I do not have a problem with your opinion regarding health care. You know why you believe the way you do and I have no argument with that. I just have a different opinion based on my personal experience with family who live in a country where universal health care is their only choice and they pay dearly for it (costing money and lives waiting for treatment).
As I stated earlier, the debate is very important and it will be very hard for this country to come to consensus on it. I just want the debate to be in public for everyone to see for themselves, not hidden from public view behind closed doors. We need to know “all” the facts not just one side of the story. There are compelling arguments on each side of the issue.
So just understand I appreciate that we have a different point of view. As long as it is a healthy (no pun intended) debate.
- Posted by TCthanks for the reply tc nice to see we can disagree the in the civilized way conservative do.i hope eric h learns from this debate,as he observes. the difference is “the man who loves god,god knows him”.and he not quite there yet.he had a snow boarding accident i hope he is not in a full body cast with his legs up in the air,over loading his wifes insurance again.
- Posted by brian leeeric h another bomb shell my beleaguered friend , obamas camp have not denied that some one might have to pay taxes on health care benefits.being a liberal you might hope it is going to be your wives repressive exploitative employer,but i suggest that some of it will land on your wives shoulders,like you should have done when you hurdled down the slope.any way get well soon my friend,there does not seem to be the same amount of obama superlatives that we were being bombarded with just after the election?and i am sure tc as well misses the opportunity to gently convince you of a more noble path to follow, if you are disillusioned.
- Posted by brian leeI think the fact it is being debated that the employer part of the health insurance dues each month just goes to show it will not be cheaper when all is said and done. However, we can count on a lower quality of care. Even if we do pay more. It just isn’t a good path to go down.
- Posted by TCi am like you tc lets have the debate,my only reservation is getting the insurance companies out of the loop,and how we are going to do that? i don,t know.
- Posted by brian lee