Health Care: Too Big To Fail?

Paul Volker wrote in the New York Times today of 'the implication that really large, complex and highly interconnected .... institutions can count on public support at critical times'. He refers, of course, to the financial sector.

Are there parallel lessons that apply to the health care sector (and to health system reform)? Certainly the health care sector, as well, is 'too big to fail.'

Leadership? MIA for Now

President Obama indicated that he might be willing to scale back his proposed health care overhaul to a version without provision for near-universal insurance coverage. Speaker Pelosi says the House wants 'comprehensive reform' and (thankfully) won't pass the flawed Senate bill.

While Massachusetts enjoys the lowest percent of population without coverage (about 5%) and Texas enjoys the highest (about 25%), Californians now talk of reintroducing universal single payer legislation in order to eventually save money.

While White House officials and Democratic Congressional leaders still struggle to find a viable way forward for the health care bill, your blog-masters ask, "Where is the national leadership here"?

Everyone seems to agree that some reform is needed. But nobody needs a compromise for sellouts and lobbyists. What about true leadership, and what about a physician voice?