From a State Sen. Debbie Halvorson press release yesterday after the recall amendment failed:

“I was very disappointed and surprised that the recall amendment fell short in the Senate today. I voted for the legislation in both committee and on the floor, because I strongly believe that, more than ever, we need complete transparency and accountability in our government (emphasis mine). We need to hold elected officials – at all levels – to the highest ethical standards and demand they serve with integrity and honesty. The people of Illinois deserve nothing less."

So, does this mean Sen. Halvorson will allow HB4765, The Illinois Accountability Portal, to be released from the Rules Commitee, which she chairs?  Inquiring minds would want to know.

Hat tip:  Rich Miller

Via Megan McArdle's post on John McCain's health plan:

"Just got off the McCain campaign's conference call on its health care agenda. No earth shaking news, but it was interesting listening to the campaign defending its choices.

The plan's heart is mostly in the right place: break the link between employment and health care, make the plan revenue neutral (ish), change Medicare reimbursement so that we pay for results rather than procedures.

The problem is, it's heavier on theory than practice. Every health care economist in the country wants to pay for health rather than treatments. The problem is, health is very hard to measure--as David Cutler told me, "Health care and education are the two fields where output is hardest to measure. It's not surprising that costs in those areas are increasing much faster than inflation." When output can't be measured, input will be."

As a policy wonk, let me tell you that I too work in an industry where output is difficult to measure... After all, how do you measure effectiveness?  And afte rall, isn't that what we are measuring in health care and education -- effectiveness? 

From the Health Affairs Blog:

"The first question is whether a single-minded focus on universal coverage makes sense if we’re trying to buy everyone into a system that we can’t afford in the first place. What makes this discussion doubly awkward is that there is no political advantage to be had from making a big issue out of the need to cut spending. As the standard joke goes, there are two trillion dollars in the health economy, and every one of them is loved by someone. What is savings to a payer is income to a provider and benefits to a consumer."

You get the same answer anytime you try and cut spending at the Statehouse or the US Capitol.  Somebody's pet program is going to get kicked to the curb.  That's what makes porkbusting so hard.  Now, try and imagine that attitude when people believe their lives depend on the spending...

The answer, as Rob Cunningham notes, is ending the peverse incentives in the health care spending with a new round of pay for performance reforms.  I'd argue that more efforts to bring the consumer back into the marketplace  is the cure for what ails us.  

Regardless, of your reform favorites, this is still a very clarifying question.

Collective action theories seek to explain how people in groups make decisions in a democracy while serving their interests.  This morning Megan McArdle applies collective action theories to the decisions of Democrat Superdelegates:

"1) They are afraid of retaliation by a vengeful Senator Clinton

2) They are afraid that she will somehow get the nomination, and retaliate from the Oval Office

3) They need the Clintons to fundraise for the general

4) No one wants to be the guy who put the last nail in the Clinton campaign's coffin."

I can see why its in their interest to stay neutral.

Click here to see what I mean.

In today's State Journal-Register Dean Olson takes seriously a bill that would impose a Canadian Style health care system on Illinois.  The problem is, that it simply can't be done.  First, large companies in Illinois aren't governed by state law, they are governed by ERISA.  If the state were to adopt a Canadian style system, we'd end up with the hybrid system we have today for people who worked for AT&T, Caterpillar and then a Canadian system for the rest of us.  We'd essentially have a caste system for health care.

Second, is the really scary part.  This bill would allow the state expropriate private companies and force them into non-profit status.  The state would reimburse the owners...Yeah...sure they would.  I wouldn't see that surviving court challenges.

However, one shouldn't worry too much.  This bill isn't about a single payer system.  It's about protecting House Democrats from the governor.  By allowing this bill to go forward and spending state tax dollars to hold these hearings, the governor can't really charge Madigan with "doing nothing about the high cost of health care."  This is about Mike vs. Rod.

I think this clip speaks for itself.

Hat tip:  Megan McArdle