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When In Doubt, Deny All Terms and Definitions

Cracking the nut of health care reform may be tougher than once thought.

Last week, in a big, PR-inspired blow-out, health care leaders stood shoulder-to-shoulder and promised to do...well..."something" about cost escalation. President Obama, apparently believing them credible and serious of intent, thanked them for their commitment to the common good and then had the Presidential temerity to request a near-term progress report.

Oops. Now the fun begins, as today's NY Times reports on the back-pedaling:

"We may have (or not) promised to 'control' costs. We may try (or not) to slow the RATE of increase. But don't interpret that to mean we'll actually 'CONTROL' costs! And if we did say it, we certainly didn't mean it. Besides, we never expected progress reports and deadlines and all that other accountability stuff!"

OK, that's my slightly-snarky interpretation, but I'm honestly not sure how you put a reform plan together with attitudes like this in the room. A workable plan requires leaders who say what they mean, mean what they say, and consider a commitment immutable to morning-after spin and valid for longer than a Washington week.

So far, the industry's not faring very well in the credibility category.

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