Critics: Not enough health cost reductions

WASHINGTON, Nov. 4 (UPI) -- Healthcare reform measures being debated in the U.S. Congress don't go far enough to rein in runaway costs, critics say.

Legislation emerging from the Democratic-controlled Congress shy away from price controls and instead focus on President Barack Obama's preference for moving away from Medicare's fee-for-service payments, meant to break the cycle of rewarding providers for doing more procedures. Instead, proposals would establish a coordinated system that pays doctors and hospitals for gaining better results, The Washington Post reported Wednesday.

But the newspaper said critics say measures to control costs are tepid and likely ineffective, such as the Senate plan's refusal to eliminate tax exemptions for employer-sponsored coverage and a watered-down proposal to set up a new Medicare cost-cutting commission.

The Post reported that healthcare cost reduction advocates also contend that moves to "save" $110 billion by simply cutting reimbursements to the private Medicare Advantage program hardly represent a fundamental refashioning of the healthcare system.

"These bills do very little in terms of reining in long-term cost growth," Ralph Neas, head of the non-partisan National Coalition on Health Care, told the newspaper, adding, "There is not enough in the public sector and virtually none in the private sector."