Kitzhaber on TV: My plan could reduce medical costs and deficit
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) - Oregon Gov. John Kitzhaber does not pass up many chances to talk about health care.
Kitzhaber appeared on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program on Monday, ostensibly to talk about how the state would be affected by across-the-board federal spending cuts.
Asked if the Obama administration was exaggerating the potential impact of the cuts, Kitzhaber said the rhetoric surrounding the issue is diverting attention from what lawmakers really should be discussing - how lowering medical costs would be the best way to reduce the country's long-term debt.
Kitzhaber then explained his plan that changes the way doctors and hospitals are paid under Medicaid.
He says paying for outcomes instead of procedures will improve health care coordination for poor residents so their treatable medical problems don't grow in severity or expense.
Kitzhaber was a guest of First Lady Michelle Obama and sat near her during President Obama's Feb. 12 State of the Union address.
(Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
Does Kitz have any plan for fixing the government run education system or the postal system?
OMG -- Wouldn't it be terrible if, in fact, his ideas worked to cut medical costs and the deficit? Â What would all of you haters whine about then?Â
@Sundowner I am also grateful for the OHP but if you believe that Kitz is not going to do this in a way to benefit his Elitest Friends and Himself I have a Diamond Mine on a Sand Bar on the Columbia to sell you. When an Elected Leader Subverts the will of the Voters Repeatedly he needs to be removed from Office Period!
@swede760Â That's some good rhetoric and no doubt a recitation of some local talking points, but how would any of this benefit "his elitest friends and himself"? Â Just saying it's so in a forum comment doesn't make your assertion true.
@Sundowner Gee I don't know, maybe by regulating how Medicaid Pays Doctors. Seeing as he is a Doctor himself isn't that a bit of a Conflict of interest? Kind of like the WSP Trooper who resigned because he got caught having sex with a chic he arrested for DUI. Yeah it was consensual but could that influence wether he shows up for her trial to testify?
Yeah Right, I am going to trust a Doctor to reform Health Care, NOT! He will reform it so his Buddies get Rich just like he is Trying to Ban Gillnets so his Fishing Buddies can have the Gillnetter 20% of the Salmon and his Capital Punishment Moretorium to appease his Hypocratic Oath BS. Governor Palpatine just wants to be Emporer of the North West so he can make it the Utopian Society it should be for his Rich Friends and him. Never mind what the Voters do during an election, Kitz Knows best and he will make it so.
"My plan could reduce medical costs and deficit"
He has to say that, because his plan has not been put into place yet and he has no evidence to support any other claim. IMHO.
Ah yes the father of the fabled Oregon Health Plan has a new great idea now that OHP has become an epic fail
@Tonk Epic fail?  Tell that to the tens of thousands who'd receive NO health care if it weren't for the OHP.  Many are fortunate, myself included, to have private insurance provided by employers.  What would you suggest for the many more who don't?  Let them die?  When good ol' Sarah Palin talked about "death panels", it sounds like you'd be interested in sitting down and judging who gets to live and who doesn't.  Oh, and if you think private insurance companies haven't been in the business of being "death panels" when they deny care to their insureds, you've not been paying attention.
Oregon wants to be like Vermont but keeps screwing it up. Lol. Oregon.
@Mr. Carbon Footprint If Oregon really wanted to be like Vermont, Oregon wouldn't require a CHL for concealed carry.
"My plan could reduce medical costs and deficit"
Q. How do tell when a politician is lying? A.. When his lips are moving.
Good Lord, another pathological liar in office along with all the rest of them. What is really sad is that folks actually believe the rhetoric because they voted for it and are too ashamed to admit that they might have made a mistake, It is a sociological phenomenon where folks will do their best to defend a false, and dying position. Kitzgrabber wants to be just his hero, Omama,,,
I would have thought the people of Oregon would have learned from his first two failures as Governor, but the idiots here in Oregon put him back in for a third term. You are getting exactly what you deserve...too d**n bad I can't afford him anymore this time than the last two. Anytime he mentions 'reduce' you better BOHICA! (Bend Over Here It Comes) Thanks to the idiot liberals in the state we all get to suffer!
Wow Kitzhaber you are looking rough..Things getting you down...Go to last thing on page and see how many politicians are paying money to put fluoride in the water..And none live here.......Wow   http://www.kenricashe.com/intolerable/blog.cfm?cal=intolerable&ID=048316a6-347b-292d-a054-1b18675fdb1d
350 dollars for a doctor visit seems high
@Bert Yes but doesn't Kitzy have a large plot of land to pay for?Â
Go ahead, Johny boy. Just tell us how much would your savings cost us in new taxes.
The look on Dr. No's face has confusion and clueless written all over it.
So, instead of lying about injuries, they're going to be lying about results. What could go wrong? If you want to deal with healthcare costs, why not find out why an asthmatic needs to go to a doctor to get a new prescription, or why anybody else with a recurring problem needs to spend hours and potentially hundreds of dollars to be told that they need a medicine that they already know they need.
I worked in an orthopedic clinic. The drug pushers would come through weekly or monthly to drop off their warez, always dressed to the nines. The doctors would often push these onto patients. You want to know why healthcare costs are so high? Don't ask the ones getting filthy rich, that's for sure.
Dr. Kavorkian also had ways to save medical expenses. Â One injection and it was all over. Â I hope the easily duped voters in the Portland area are happy with the governor they elected. Â Too bad the rest of the state has to suffer because of their ignorance.
@Shadow Too true!!!
...and taxpayers money go to where his mouth is. If I had to research how government reducing costs, I would look at military contracts. Or public schools. Or bridges...
@Julie Where his mouth is or where his campain money came from. What about the idea of all departments getting rid of jobs that were created so some higher up could make a job for their friend many time creating another level of middle management that has nothing to do. How about getting rid of some of the government workers who can not or will not do their jobs. They are easy to spot. Then put someone in their place who will do the job. It would take a lot less people. I could go on for hours.
Some people are so blinded by their own light, they can't wake up to reality.
If you believe this snake oil salesman you deserve to have him as Governor.
Kitzhaber has proven again that light travels faster than sound, which is why some people seem so bright until they speak.If the government doesn't stop saving me money I'm gonna go broke!
If his medical practice is anything like his work as a govenor...I would'nt want him to make house calls!!
@Mark B
He was an ER Dr. People were dying to see him...Â
In other words, they didn't have a choice.
@WebFootSTi @Mark B I thought that was the mortician.
Gov K should go back to being Dr K and make some house calls! Â
Here we go, the government wants to save us money? how many times we gonna fall for that? A politicians job is to figure out ways to tax us more and then spend it. Kitzhaber worked in the medical field, did he demand LESS money in his salary? I think not. The FREE Obama care will cost the average WORKING citizen about $4,500 a year. It has never been about health care but a new way to get money from the WORKING people. When the iron curtain fell, communist countries abolished socialized health care because it didn't work. The care level was terrible and way too expensive. If he wants to save Oregonians money, quit as governor and volunteer his skills in medicine.
The easiest way to reduce cost is to stop doing anything. Fire all the doctors and post a link to WebMD where you would normally request an appointment.
Surgery can be accomplished by linking to Expedia with a list of countries that provide free care.
Ya it could reduce it slightly or more likely double the costs...but hey don't mention that no one will buy into my fairy tail...
"Could reduce".........WON'T, but could.
"He says paying for outcomes instead of procedures will improve health care coordination for poor residents so their treatable medical problems don't grow in severity or expense."
He's right. And it applies to the population as a whole, not just the poor and elderly. We have a system now where the profit motive makes it coldly rational for insurance companies to be short-sighted - solve the current problem as cheaply as possible and then try to pass the costs on to someone else.
This guy is a failure, why should we think this time will be any different?
I'd say a good start is forcing hospitals to charge reasonable prices, $20 for a paper cup is a bit much.
@deejm2112  govt. intervention is what brought about  the $20  paper cup.  Â
@kramr @deejm2112 Right. That's why countries with socialize medicine all have half the care at twice the cost... Oh, wait...
@Max Quinn @kramr @deejm2112   """"""Right. That's why countries with socialize medicine all have half the care at twice the cost... Oh, wait..."""""
1st, Â there is no way in hell socialized medicine is half the cost unless it is horribly crappy service. Â
2nd, Â look at how insurance worked prior to WW2, prices were not inflated back then.Â
@Julie @Max Quinn @kramr @deejm2112 No. England, France, Germany, and Canada. Horror story places like those...
@Max Quinn@kramr@deejm2112 'countries with socialize medicine' do you mean like Greece, Russia, India and Cuba?
"COULD"...  bragging about something  he can't back up at this point....
Wasn't the Oregon Health Plan  (Dr, ReRun's first brain child)  supposed to save money and ended up being significantly  more expensive than  expected!!!
Pardon me if I don't congratulate  Dr. ReRun at this point.......
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@Dr. Rawdog If it'll get rid of him and out of Oregon. How much damage can a VP do? Their only job is to make speeches bashing the opposition.
@hankhandsome @Dr. Rawdog
The VP does have one real duty under the constitution. Â Breaking a tie vote in the senate.
@hankhandsome @Dr. Rawdog Yeah...we see it with Biden...worst VP ever!
@Dr. Rawdog I have nicer toilet bowl rings at my house...