Health Care Snippet: Igor Volsky on the New Plan

By: ninas

Washington, D.C.
01 February 2010

Right now a big debate is Health Care in America. President Obama has a new plan and polling shows that the majority of Americans disapprove. There are many questions about the cost of the plan and the quality of the health care that it will provide.

Igor Volsky is a blogger and Health Care Researcher for very liberal organization the Center for American Progress, located in Washington, D.C. He is also coauthor of the book Howard Dean's Prescription for Real Healthcare Reform. He has appeared as a guest speaker on many radio shows, and has also appeared MSNBC, CNN, Fox Business, and CNBC Television.

Volsky believes that doing nothing, no plan, will cost taxpayers three times as much. After pointing to a CBO report which states that the Public Health Insurance Option will reduce premiums for families by about 10% on average, he concludes that health reform, if done right, if done in a comprehensive manner, and if it includes a public, the new health insurance plan will lower costs for American families.

President Obama believes that not having deficits down the road is of the utmost importance. This is why he has proposed establishing an independent panel that will work to make sure that we reward quality of care and not just quantity of care, and also work to reorient the way Medicare pays providers, hospitals, and doctors. According to Volsky, these are all important reforms that will lower costs in the long-term.

Needless to say, Igor Volsky of the Center for American Progress is an avid supporter of the bill, and speaks to the people daily, doing his best to get it passed quickly.