Dose of Reality: Looking at 2009

In Davis' January Dose of Reality, he observes that "for the first time, health care reform bills have actually gotten to the House and Senate floors—and been passed." This is a significant achievement, despite the problems associated with them. A comparison of the two bills (PDF) was provided by the Kaiser Family Foundation, but, Davis writes,

Reading through the Kaiser report the main impression I got was that neither the House nor Senate bills do much if anything to reduce the incredible complexity and cost of the American health care payment system. This complexity adds much to the system’s dysfunctional nature and allows uncontrolled escalation of costs.

In other words, both bills miss tackling the main problems with our system.