On the other hand, walking and traveling and other things are a lot easier with just one. I'm trying to compromise by taking him to day care now and then and the dog park every weekend and some evenings.

When he made a big deal out of cutting costs by doing research on procedures he left HCR wide open for charges of rationing.

Lambert has a post up at Corrente that bears thinking about:

Times:

President Obama has made health care his top priority. He says the cost of Medicare and Medicaid is "the biggest threat" to the nation's fiscal future. But to the puzzlement of Congress and health care experts around the country, Mr. Obama has not named anyone to lead the agency that runs the two giant programs.

The agency, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, is the largest buyer of health care in the United States. Its programs are at the heart of efforts to overhaul the health care system. If it had an administrator, that person would be working with Congress on legislation and could be preparing the agency for a new, expanded role.

So, Obama doesn't want a Medicare/Medicaid administrator working with Congress then, right? I wonder why?

"The vacancy stands out like a sore thumb," said Dr. Denis A. Cortese, president of the Mayo Clinic, often cited by the White House as a health care model.

"In effect," Dr. Cortese said, "Medicare is the nation's largest insurance company. The president and Congress function as the board of directors.

"Under a strong administrator, it could take the lead in making major changes in the health care delivery system, so we'd get better outcomes and better service at lower cost."

So, Obama doesn't want a Medicare/Medicaid administrator taking the lead in making major changes, right? I wonder why?

Trying to remake the health care system without a Medicare administrator is like fighting a war without a general.

Well, that would depend on how you define the war, wouldn't it?

If the war is to make sure that the insurance companies have a guaranteed market, and their power in the system is increased relative to Medicare/Medicaid, then making sure that the Medicare/Medicaid side has no general would make a lot of sense.

We saw this same style of non-decision making once before at Treasury, where Obama's non-appointments meant that policy was essentially outsourced to the banksters, especially Goldman Sachs.

So, I'd guess that Obama hasn't appointed a Medicare/Medicaid administrator because he wants to outsource policy to the health insurance companies (and f**k the Medicare/Medicaid recipients).

Put me in mind of the still-languishing nomination of Dawn Johnsen to OLC...

And, as is pointed out in the comments to lambert's post:

isn't it
By dblhelix on Mon, 08/17/2009 - 9:02pm
because he's waiting on the formation of that "independent" executive branch panel to cut Medicare to find "savings"

A strengthened MedPAC is seen by some lawmakers as a means to make policy changes in the Medicare program that would reduce long-term medical costs. While the Congressional Budget Office has said that one version of the proposal would result in only $2 billion in savings over a 10-year period, a larger savings estimate could arise if the new entity is given a target for cutting costs.

It's supposed to work like a trigger that automatically goes into effect to cut costs unless Congress can find cuts costs elsewhere by the same amount.

I mean, we had to find a way to support pharma handouts like making sure that they don't have to deal with Medicare rebates!

I don't understand how any "progressive" can support this "reform."