Serious Implications

“legislation contains provisions that are aligned with our principles”

The Mayo Clinic released this statement regarding the health reform legislation up for vote today in the House of Representatives. An excerpt:

Mayo Clinic does not traditionally take public positions for or against overall legislation. Thus, we will not take a position for or against this bill. We will, however, continue to point out provisions that we think move the country toward patient-centered health care as well as areas where we have concerns.

We continue to strongly believe that the status quo is not acceptable and have consistently said that there must be two key principles in any successful reform measure:

•Incentives for doctors and hospitals to offer the highest quality care at the most reasonable cost, and
•A means to enable all Americans to purchase health insurance.

Based on what the bill includes as of today, Mayo Clinic believes that the proposed health reform legislation contains provisions that are aligned with our principles for reform and will begin to move us toward a system that provides all Americans with quality care at affordable costs. Some of these provisions include:

•Provisions to pay more for value – better health care outcomes at lower cost,
•Insurance reforms, including elimination of pre-existing condition exclusions,
•An insurance exchange, rather than an expansion of Medicare or a government-run public option,
•Subsidies for people with financial need to purchase health insurance,
•An independent payment advisory board, and
•Pilot projects on accountable care organizations, medical homes and bundled payments.

Mayo Clinic recognizes that this legislation is an initial step toward ensuring quality, affordable health care for all Americans, but acknowledges much more needs to be done in the form of future legislative action.

The statement goes on to warn about problems with Medicare and general remarks about potential fixes. Those of us getting a little tired of the endless debate over health care reform can get ready for what is sure to be just as big a fight.

Senator Al Franken talks with some folks at the Minnesota State Fair. He handles it well, better than a lot of veteran senators, in my view.

Tip: Liberal Values