Lessons of 93

We caught Tom Daschle, the former Senate Majority Leader and newly-minted health wonk, discussing his new book "Critical" today. We were delighted to hear him take issue with the too-common refrain that "America has the best health care in the world." Politicians in both parties say that, and it was an effective slogan against the Clinton health care reform in the early 1990s. It drives us nuts. Yes, we have great doctors and great research and great medical schools and great technology but no, we don't have the best health care in the world available on a consistent basis to all Americans. Daschle's phrase was that we have "islands of excellence in a sea of mediocrity." Like Daschle, we believe that any initiative to expand coverage also requires us to acknowledge our quality gaps and address spending that doesn't buy value.