BU Now » healthcare reform

Obama may get financial reform, too

Dick Taffe — Mon, 17 May 2010 17:50:27 +0000

On the heels of his getting a health-care reform bill through Congress (with no GOP votes), President Obama this week may get the financial-services reform package which largely reflects the administration’s original blueprint. Political science Professor Graham Wilson, author of “Business and Politics,” says this could only make the president look good.

“If Obama gets this as well as health care he is starting to look like a legislative genius.”

Contact Graham Wilson, 617-353-2540, gkwilson@bu.edu

Healthcare bill to Obama’s desk

Dick Taffe — Mon, 22 Mar 2010 16:17:04 +0000

President Obama said it was answering ”the call to history” when the House passed the Senate’s version of healthcare reform and sent the bill to his desk for signing. Political Science Professor Graham Wilson, author of “Only in America? American Politics in Comparative Perspective,” says GOP unity in opposition shows how far right the party has moved on domestic policy since the days of Richard Nixon.

“But the situation so baffling to citizens of other democracies in which the United States was the only advanced democracy in the world that did not have health insurance for all its citizens is over.”

Contact Graham Wilson, 617-353-2540, gkwilson@bu.edu

Last-ditch healthcare reform bid

Dick Taffe — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 22:11:56 +0000

President Obama is making a final effort to get the public to push Congress to pass healthcare reform, bashing the insurance industry for predatory pricing practices. School of Management Professor Stephen Davidson, author of “Still Broken: Understandng the U.S. Healthcare System,” says the facts are on the side of reform, but the White House hasn’t made the benefits appear compelling to individual voters.

“Framing the issue as profiteering insurers against ordinary citizens who need medical care should resonate with the public. If reform fails, costs will continue to rise, more and more people will lose coverage (and no one’s coverage is safe), and quality will continue to decline.”

Contact Stephen Davidson, 617-353-7422, sdavidso@bu.edu

After the healthcare “summit”

Dick Taffe — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 22:11:49 +0000

With President Obama’s ballyhooed healthcare “summit” with Republicans over, political science Professors Graham Wilson and Douglas Kriner offered their takes on what it all means (or doesn’t).

WILSON: ”The session showed that there are differences that can’t be bridged. But in purely political terms, neither the President not the Democrats can afford to be seen to have been defeated and enter the midterm campaign with nothing to show on this signature issue.”

KRINER: “The administration did not seem very open to approaches that varied significantly from the Senate bill. This would seem to suggest that both Republican priorities, like comprehensive tort reform, and Democratic ones, like re-introducing the public option, are unlikely to generate real support from the White House.”

Contact Graham Wilson, 617-353-2540, gkwilson@bu.edu, or Douglas Kriner, 617-358-4643, dkriner@bu.edu

Health premiums rising

Dick Taffe — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 22:05:12 +0000

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has issued a report warning of double-digit increases coming in health insurance premiums. School of Management Professor Stephen Davidson, author of “Still Broken: Understanding the U.S. Healthcare System,” says if the report was released to highlight the need for reform, then the administration is right on.

“The real question is whether they can make the case compellingly enough that wavering Congressmen will pass the Senate bill — and then members of both houses will also pass a reconciliation bill that will satisfy House members who don’t like some of the Senate bill’s provisions.”

Contact Stephen Davidson, 617-353-7422, sdavidso@bu.edu

Healthcare reform update

Dick Taffe — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:12:09 +0000

With President Obama inviting Congressional Republicans to a Feb. 25 summit in hopes of reviving healthcare reform legislation, political jockeying is under way. House GOP leaders say they may boycott unless the bills that passed both Democrat-controlled chambers are scrapped. School of Management Professor Stephen Davidson, author of ”Still Broken: Understanding the U.S. Healthcare System” says the GOP should take advantage of the bipartisan offer.

“Maybe the Republicans will have good ideas that can be incorporated into the bills. If not, the public will see the emptiness of their rhetoric.”

Contact Stephen Davidson, 617-353-7422, sdavidso@bu.edu

What next for healthcare reform?

Dick Taffe — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 17:03:11 +0000

GOP Congressional leaders, enboldened by their Senate win in Massachusetts, are pushing Democrats to start over on efforts to reform the healthcare system. In an opinion piece in Politico, history Professor Bruce Schulman says House Dems should take a page from FDR history on how Social Security was created and just pass the Senate bill.

“Passing the Senate bill might mean swallowing hard in the short-term, but if Americans enjoy new benefits and protection against catastrophic illness, the politics, history shows, could shift.”

Contact Bruce Schulman, 617-353-8306, bjschulm@bu.edu

Healthcare reform endangered

Dick Taffe — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 15:08:05 +0000

With passage of healthcare reform endangered with Democrats losing their 60th vote in the Senate, even the insurance industry is worried about where they’ll get future customers. School of Management Professor Stephen Davidson, author of “Still Broken: Understanding the U.S. Health Care System,” says in a New York Times letter-to-the-editor that citizen anger over the healthcare bills reflects special interest lobbying.

“Only activated public opinion — based on reality, not fantasy and prejudice — can overcome the money and influence of special interests.”

Contact Stephen Davidson, 617-353-7422, sdavidso@bu.edu

Senate compromise on “public option”

Dick Taffe — Wed, 09 Dec 2009 17:25:16 +0000

Senate Democratic leaders have a tentative compromise on the “public option” part of the healthcare-reform bill which might be able to garner enough votes to get the whole package passed. Professor Alan Cohen, who heads BU’s Health Policy Institute, thinks it’s smart to offer private plans under the auspices of the federal-employee health program and to let middle-aged people buy into Medicare.

“These are reasonable, commonsensical concessions by the liberals to gain the support of the moderates in Congress, and a separate national public option would not be necessary unless these options failed in the short-term.”

Contact Alan Cohen, 617-353-9222, abcohen@bu.edu

Senate Finance okays healthcare bill

Dick Taffe — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 21:02:18 +0000

With only one Republican voting yea, the Senate Finance Committee has approved its healthcare-reform bill and the deal making should begin in earnest to meld it with a more liberal version from another committee. School of Management Professor Stephen Davidson, author of “In Urgent Need of Reform: Saving the U.S. Healthcare System,” says the Finance panel stripped out cost-containment provisions that will be critically needed.

“The bottom line is that the insurers have demonsrated there is no reason any more to cultivate their support. That being the case, Congress has a new chance to do the job right.”

Contact Stephen Davidson, 617-353-7422, sdavidso@bu.edu