Orszag Victory: Experts Side With White House In Medicare Reform Dispute

[daniel green]

A group of prominent health care experts, including members of a Congressional Budget Office advisory panel, are taking the Obama White House's side in a dispute it is having with the CBO over how much money could be saved by reforming a key aspect of the Medicare system. In a letter to the president that was made public on Tuesday, 13 academics and experts, including eight members of the CBO's own Panel of Health Advisers said that significant reductions in health care costs could be achieved by creating an independent council to moderate Medicare costs. "A properly structure Independent Medicare Advisory Council (IMAC), with a congressional mandate and authority to do so, can reduce the rate of growth of health expenditures substantially," the author's wrote. The letter, which went on to favorably cite the CBO, is nevertheless a rebuke of sorts for the office whose director, Douglas Elmendorf, wrote in late July that an independent panel to monitor Medicare spending would achieve little savings over a ten-year period.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2009/08/04/orszag-victory-experts-si_n_250966.html

[Hey Paula]

Ever since his unprecedented meeting with BO, Doug Elmendorf and the CBO has lost credibility in my view. BO, accustomed to Chicago politics, is running this administration along the same lines, and it's sad to witness the abuse of power wielded by this administration, and the decline of this great Nation as the tragic result.

IMO

[Adalena935]

Ever since his unprecedented meeting with BO, Doug Elmendorf and the CBO has lost credibility in my view. BO, accustomed to Chicago politics, is running this administration along the same lines, and it's sad to witness the abuse of power wielded by this administration, and the decline of this great Nation as the tragic result. IMO

Well said Paula. I totally agree.

[Brentwood]

Bump...Important Matter