They Are All Getting A Piece Of The Pie

I hope someone follows the money trail even further than this NY Times article. The piece details how each part of Baucus' healthcare reform bill is being whittled down by special interest groups:

• The tax on gold-plated insurance plans will probably be removed - 157 House Democrats signed a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi opposing the tax


• The drug industry made a deal that it would contribute a total of $80 billion — but no more — over 10 years in reductions to their government payments.


• The White House and the Senate finance chairman agreed to limit the hospitals’ payment reductions to $155 billion over 10 years and no more

Every group affected is plowing money into lobbying Congress in hopes of being excluded. I guarantee that you will find many a politician being wined and dined over this bill. My hunch is that there will be even more "under the table" deals coming that no one will hear about. In other words, some politicians are getting a lot of donations of money for their upcoming campaigns. The doctors and the powerless AMA, on the other hand, are going to get hammered on this deal. The feeling I am getting is like knowing a car accident is going to happen but I can't do anything to stop it. The result of all this is that rich patients/companies, drug companies and hospitals are now being protected while doctors are being marginalized. As I feared, this will lead to more and more patients being left behind.