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Belief in Barack intact? – The first 50 days

Posted on 11. Mar, 2009 by Handbaglady in News, People

“I’m asking you to believe. Not just in my ability to bring about real change in Washington…I’m asking you to believe in yours”

It’s been nearly two months since I was in Washington and watched the Inauguration preparations with great interest and excitement  – so what have President Obama’s first few weeks in power meant to the U.S. people – has he delivered so far?

These first few weeks have indeed seen a lot of proposed action and change. So far, President Obama has made good on many of his election promises, including starting the removal of U.S. troops from Iraq and also reforming the notoriously tricky-to-reform U.S. healthcare system. The belief in Obama is still very much intact and the good news for the American people seems to be that their belief in him is so far justified and Barack Obama appears to be a man on a mission and in a hurry to make real changes. The comprehensive healthcare changes he is suggesting are set to start by the end of 2009…”our goal will be to enact comprehensive health reform by the end of the year”. Moving slowly does not appear to be an option as Mr Obama and his administration believe that the existing, inefficient system isn’t working and indeed is damaging the economy even further. “If we want to create jobs and rebuild our economy, then we must address the crushing cost of healthcare this year, in this administration”. He also added, “by a wide margin, the biggest threat to our nation’s balance sheet is the skyrocketing cost of healthcare.”

President Obama’s proposed changes to the healthcare system include making health insurance affordable and accessible to all; lowering health care costs (by $2,500 for a typical family) by investing in health information technology, prevention and care coordination and lastly; promoting public health.

The Clinton failure

Former-President Clinton famously tried and failed to deliver on healthcare reform. His (or indeed Mrs Clinton’s) changes were challenged by the Republicans, the pharmaceutical industry, insurers and were finally shelved. So what makes this attempt different? President Obama has asked that those who objected to President Clinton’s plans now become fully involved in the whole reform process. He stated “this time there is no debate about whether all Americans should have quality affordable healthcare – the only question is how?”

President Obama addressed members of Congress, doctors, insurers and key figures in the pharmaceutical industry at the opening of the White House Forum on Health Reform. He wants to avoid a repeat of the mid-90s failure and all those involved this time must not “give in to the same entrenched interests and arrive back at the same stalemate that we’ve been stuck in for decades”.

Industry reaction

So far the reaction to these proposed changes has been positive on both sides of the political divide. What it means to the pharmaceutical industry remains to be seen. So far they have been reasonably enthusiastic but it is early days as yet and it will be interesting to see if this initial enthusiasm continues as negotiations continue and the reforms gather pace.

Billy Tauzin, chief executive of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America commented that “we recognise the fact that all stakeholders are going to have to step up to the plate and make sacrifices to achieve our shared goals…in doing so, it is important that policymakers support the continuation of medical advances”.

Half-term report

It appears that so far President Obama is making good his promises for change and things are moving along nicely. At this stage in proceedings, I would give him an ‘A’ for effort and for achievement…it is way too early to say but it has been interesting to watch so far.

We will all continue to watch with interest, especially the impact these changes have on the pharmaceutical industry and potentially on the world wide economy.

Tags: transatlantic