A Message to President-elect Barack Obama and Senator Tom Daschle

Submitted by John Kitzhaber on Thu, 12/18/2008 - 3:52pm

For this month's blog posting, I am sharing with you a letter that I have written to our incoming administration in Washington.

I'm hoping you'll read the letter, and if you agree, add your name next to mine.

– John Kitzhaber

A Message to President-elect Barack Obama and Senator Tom Daschle

It is increasingly clear that simply trying to get all Americans access to health insurance will not result in better health for Americans or reasonable health care costs. Without simultaneously having a public debate about what we are buying with our health care dollars and how the delivery system is structured, we will not solve the nation’s health care crisis.

Given the turmoil in our financial markets, we can no longer afford a system that gives us only a small return on investment in terms of population health for an annual expenditure of over $2.3 trillion in health care.

People all around this nation are looking for political leadership which will squarely confront the real issue involved here: that we cannot control rising health care costs unless we fundamentally shift our goal from financing health care to improving the health of the American people. And unless we can change our current fiscal trajectory (driven by the aging of the Baby Boom Generation) we will face a national debt of staggering proportions and an ever-increasing portion of the federal budget will be consumed by the entitlement programs.

Not only does this pose a serious threat to the fiscal stability of our nation, but the costs involved will make it difficult to invest in our other pressing national priorities, such as renewable energy research and development, and the other transitional investments necessary to move to a post-fossil-fuel economy.

There is not a simple solution to this problem, but there is a solution – as long as we have made the right diagnosis. Universal coverage is important, but unless that coverage results in better health and comes at a cost that does not bankrupt the nation, we will not have fulfilled our obligation to the future. We can do better.

We are here to help. We invite you to Oregon where we have spent the past three years in exactly the type of engagement that you are now asking all Americans to embark upon. We have held town hall gatherings, community forums, house parties and chapter meetings in people's homes, coffee shops and community centers. We passed legislation in 2007, leading to a year-long dialogue with legislators, policy makers and key stakeholders. We know what we want in a health system.

People in Oregon, and all across this nation, are willing to do the hard work, and to discuss the necessary tradeoffs, because we believe in America’s ability to find innovative solutions to its most difficult problems.

We look forward to meeting with you in Oregon and to working together to shape this nation's future.