Brian Klepper
To the Editor:
''Unveiling Health Care 2.0, Again'' (Week in Review, Sept. 16) is right. Only innocents believe that meaningful health care reform will occur simply because the American people want it and the presidential candidates promote it.
Health care economists agree that as much as half of the industry's costs is waste, but that excess constitutes a significant portion of the financial baselines of most health care organizations.
The health care industry, the nation's largest economic sector, spent $350 million lobbying Congress in 2006, more than any other sector. They won't willingly abide reforms that compromise their profitability.
Reform will occur only if America's non-health care business leaders recognize that it is a critical concern for them and us. By pooling their influence, they could overwhelm the health care lobby and drive changes that re-establish American health care's stability and sustainability.
Brian R. Klepper
Director, Center for Practical Health Reform
Atlantic Beach, Fla., Sept. 16, 2007
Sunday, September 16, 2007
