Director, Health Policy Program, New America Foundation


In

Len Nichols

order to maintain his non-partisan credentials in the health care debate, Len Nichols, director of New America Foundation's Health Policy Program, said he must be careful to offend both sides equally.

"Republicans believe things that aren't true," he said, adding, "and Democrats want things that can never be."

Nichols, who said he planned to be a preacher before becoming an economist, mocked the most sacred health care beliefs of both parties during a pragmatic and humorous presentation that concluded with an expression of hope that things may soon change for the better.

"Low value for dollar" is one of the biggest problems in the U.S. health care system, Nichols said, noting that the United States ranks first in health care spending as a percentage of gross domestic product, per capita, but, according to the World Health Organization, ranks 37th in overall system performance. While lack of health coverage is now seen as primarily a problem for lower-income individuals, the spiraling costs, he said, mean that, "Unaffordable health insurance is coming to a middle class job near you."

Nichols dismissed the two parties' approaches to health care, saying Republicans don't want real reform discussions, and Democrats don't know what they want. He equated President Bush's proposals - which focus on health savings accounts, association health plans, malpractice reform and information technology improvements - with a picture of a person trying to catch a whale with a fish net and referred to the Canadian-style models preferred by many Democrats as the "musty cocoon of single payer."

Nichols noted, though, that some states - Massachusetts, in particular - are enacting reforms that have potential and that prospective presidential candidates from both parties have asked him for advice on realistic health care proposals, with some in the GOP asking, "How can I make this consistent with Republican principles?"

"We're about ready to have an adult conversation," he said.

Nichols' PowerPoint presentation is available here.