In my column today, I argue that Peter Orszag has proven the key figure in transforming fiscal responsibility from an obsession with entitlements to a focus on health reform (I even reprint his graphs). His introductory remarks at the White House's Fiscal Summit show why:
In charting a new fiscal course, we need to be clear in diagnosing the problem. The single most important thing we can do to improve the long-term fiscal health of our nation is slow the growth rate in health care costs. Health care is the key to our fiscal future.So to my fellow budget hawks in this room and in the rest of the country, let me be very clear: health care reform is entitlement reform.The path of fiscal responsibility must run directly through health care. We also must recognize that reforms to Medicare and Medicaid will only succeed in the context of slowing the spiraling growth of overall health care costs.Improving the efficiency of the health system -- so that we get better results for less money -- is therefore not just or even primarily a budget issue. Health reform would also provide direct help to struggling families, since health care costs are reducing workers' take-home pay to a degree that is both under-appreciated and unnecessarily large.And for many states, health care is increasingly crowding out other priorities -- such as support for higher education, which in turn had lead to higher tuition and painful cutbacks at state universities.All of this is why the President has said time and again that he is committed to reforming our health care system this year.
Orszag, by the way, was the only administration member aside from the President and the Vice President who spoke at today's fiscal summit. This, in other words, is not just Orszag's message. It's the White House's message.Full speech below the fold.Related: How Entitlement Reform Became Health Care Reform. • The Orszag profile.
