New York Times says: “Obama Taps Clinton Ideas but Not Clinton Herself”
New President Barack Obama is not wasting any time when it comes to healthcare reform. Today, he’s convening a healthcare summit in Washington, DC. Invited are stakeholders that range from business and labor groups to providers, health insurers, and consumer groups.
In its prospective coverage of this healthcare summit yesterday, the New York Times used the headline “Obama Taps Clinton Ideas but Not Clinton Herself” . The NYT reporter pointedly observed that a great distance has been maintained between Hillary Clinton and the White House on the subject of healthcare. In fact, the Secretary of State will be in Brussells, Belgium, today—thousands of miles removed from Obama’s health summit!
On the other hand, NYT reporter Sheryl Gay Stolbert observed that Obama is surrounding himself with Clinton advisors, writing “Mr. Obama is at once trying to distance himself from the baggage Mrs. Clinton carries as the architect of that plan, while demonstrating that he has learned from it. He is drawing on the experiences of a host of aides who are Clinton veterans, notably Rahm Emanuel, the White House chief of staff. But he is not relying on Mrs. Clinton herself.”
Stolbert listed additional ex-Clintonites advising the new president, stating that “For Mr. Emanuel and other Clinton veterans who now work for Mr. Obama—among them Lawrence H. Summers, chief economics adviser; Peter R. Orszag, the budget director; and Neera Tanden, a longtime policy aide to Mrs. Clinton who is now a senior official at the Department of Health and Human Services—Mr. Obama’s effort to remake the nation’s health system is something of a do-over.”
Another familiar Clinton-era name to pathologists and lab directors active during the 1990s is that of Nancy DeParle. During President Clinton’s tenure, DeParle ran the Medicare and Medicaid programs as administrator of the Health Care Financing Adminsitration (HCFA, now Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services). DeParle will serve Obama as director of the White House Office for Health Reform.
What do these events mean for clinical laboratories and pathology group practices? One basic conclusion is that the same individuals who were part of the Hillarycare effort to reform the U.S. healthcare system are again serving as key advisors for the new president. Another basic conclusion is that this administration intends to tackle healthcare reform during its earliest days in power — before other priorities or national issues might derail implementation of healthcare reform. Remember how, back in 2001, 9-11 transformed the political scene and created new national priorities?
Thus, it is a high-stakes time for the laboratory testing industry. Far-reaching healthcare reform will create new classes of winners and losers. That will be true for individual clinical laboratories and pathology group practices. To prepare lab managers, pathologists, and other lab industry leaders, this year’s Executive War College on Laboratory and Pathology Management features speakers and topics that address the likely paths for healthcare reform.
Additionally, given the free-falling economy, which is already devastating hospital finances, special sessions at this year’s Executive War College will provide lab administrators and pathologists with effective strategies for cutting costs and tapping hidden sources of revenue. The full agenda is now available.
For added savings, you can take advantage of the early-bird registration savings! Act now to guarantee your place at the most important lab industry gathering of 2009. Get all the insights and knowledge you need to keep your laboratory a financial winner during this difficult economic cycle.
These are extraordinary times for our economy, with some experts anticipating a deep, long-lasting recession. Smart laboratory leaders will prepare themselves and their laboratory organizations. That’s why the Executive War College—your reliable source of effective lab management innovations—is ready to deliver everything you need to meet the challenge of these times! Mark your calendar today and be with us on April 28-29.
Your Dark Daily Editor,
Robert L. Michel
Related Information:
Tough Questions Dog Health-Care Overhaul
Obama Taps Clinton Ideas but Not Clinton Herself
Nancy-Ann DeParle and Kathleen Sebelius Announced to Lead Obama Health Effort
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