What is the cost-control theory of the HCAN plan?
RK: There are two things: First, having a public plan that has 100 million people in it will give you a lot of the cost-control. But what if you don’t have that? That seems to me a very speculative part of your plan. Are there any other aspects of the plan that will control costs? RK: Well, to say that the public plan is speculative is to say that any of this stuff is speculative, regulating the insurance industry, etc. But there are other things that control costs that might even be bigger lifts than the public plan. We need to ask, “How do we start doing the other kind of changes in the system that we need, to control costs?” Part of it is, obviously, how do we get everybody in the system with prevention? How do we get better chronic care management? How do you create a system where providers have different incentives? How do you have a system where there’s better value? So, yes, let’s use the public plan for its ability to have better prices for drug companies, better prices for hos
