Home » Readers Write » Currently Reading:

Readers Write: Election 2016

July 6, 2016 Readers Write 5 Comments

Election 2016
By Donald Trigg

image

A provocative Atlantic magazine cover this month headlines, “How American Politics Went Insane.” Jonathan Rauch explores our current reality where “chaos has become the new normal — both in campaigns and government itself.”

As we struggle to draw rational signal from the noise, one can’t help but wonder if Trumpian chaos is resident in our favorite podcasts, journals, and websites. Are byzantine rule-makings not regularly bemoaned on HIStalk?  Do we not hear classes of readers singled out (particularly for using HIPPA and HIMMS)? Are we not struck by the rather small hands on the original HIStalk graphic?  

clip_image002

HIStalk has been, all kidding aside, a thankful escape for many of us from a campaign that has been abysmal even by our diminished US standards. Fortunately, there are just 125 or so days left. And with few exceptions, these conversion dates hold.  

Here is the quadrennial cheat sheet.  

A proper understanding of the 2016 election starts with the massive advantage Democrats have in the Electoral College. The Democrats have a safe hold on 19 states (plus DC) representing 242 Electoral College votes. (Note: If you still are suffering under the delusion that the popular vote selects the president, let’s email about a couple of ideas for your trip to the Albert Gore Presidential Library). As a quick civics reminder, you only need 270 Electoral College votes to become president.  

So, with a probable shortfall of just 28 Electoral College votes to get to 270, the Democratic path is far easier. As an indicative example, a Republican could win every “swing” state from Ohio to Virginia, but lose Florida (29 EC) and thereby lose the presidency. It is not quite as challenging as running a health system with an antiquated MUMPS technical architecture, but it is still a daunting task for the GOP.         

The statistician-turned-blogger Nate Silver places the odds of a Hillary victory at 80 percent with one of his two models factoring in GDP (Q1 GDP was 1.1 percent) for a lower 75 percent chance. He probably has that about right and (spoiler alert) decisions like the Trump VP pick aren’t going to radically change that.

No matter the outcome at the top of the ticket, neither Democrats nor Republicans are likely to dominate the breadth of the electoral landscape. Republicans have a fairly solid grasp on the US House (247-188) and they also control 31 governorships. As Barron’s wrote over the long weekend, ongoing divided government will offer a muted welcome to any agenda this January.  

As for healthcare, the issue significantly trails the economy/jobs and terrorism when it comes to top voter concerns. Moreover, opinions are very settled and polarized. Forty-two percent favor the ACA, while 44 percent oppose it.  

Consequently, Clinton and Trump will use talking point level rhetoric, predominately to drive turnout. Hillary will take on big pharma, calling for caps on prescription drug costs. Trump will bemoan premium increases, call for ACA repeal, and assure us he is going to do something “fantastic.” You will feel like you are watching “Saturday Night Live.”

Notably, there is an important piece of emerging voter sentiment that we shouldn’t miss amid the posturing and platitudes. According to the June KFF poll, 90 percent are worried about the amount people pay for their healthcare premiums, while 85 percent are worried about increased cost of deductibles. Consternation over cost is growing and will be reinforced during open enrollment this fall. 

As we look out to first 100 days of the new administration, we will see a level of change on health policy that is more incremental than historic. Importantly, MACRA will continue to advance at the agency level, buttressed by solid bipartisan opposition to fee-for-service. At the state level, ongoing programmatic Medicaid changes move forward. Finally, even with the the Cadillac tax delay, employers experiment further with wellness incentives and alternative (and narrower) network design.  

In the Atlantic, Jonathan Rauch makes a lonely case for a renewed establishment that can impose some modicum of order. Few will like that treatment plan. His Chaos Syndrome diagnosis, however, is inarguable, as is his view that in the near term, “it will only get worse.”  

Donald Trigg is president of Cerner Health Ventures. In a previous life, he worked for President George W. Bush starting on the 2000 presidential campaign in Austin, Texas, and then after a brief Florida detour, in Washington, DC for the first half of Bush’s first term. 



HIStalk Featured Sponsors

     

Currently there are "5 comments" on this Article:

  1. “HIStalk has been, all kidding aside, a thankful escape for many of us from a campaign that has been abysmal even by our diminished US standards.”

    “And then I decided to write the rest of this article.”

  2. If I had worked for George W. Bush as this individual had, I would at least have the humility to keep my prognostications to myself going forward.

  3. It’s funny how a relatively balanced piece (balanced in that he dishes it out to both parties) gets slammed just because the author was involved in the Bush administration. And people wonder why there is no intelligent debate these days…

    However, I do sort of agree with @Thanks…? in theory, but, unfortunately, politics can’t be completely removed from HIStalk because political action greatly affects our industry. What we all need to do on this blog is grow up and focus on discussing the issues which are being debated regarding HIT and put our personal biases/party affiliations aside.

  4. Would have been interested to see you go further with the MUMPS/Electoral College analogy. For instance, what would an object-oriented election system look like?







Text Ads


RECENT COMMENTS

  1. It seems that every innovation in the past 50 years has claimed that it would save money and lives. There…

  2. Well, this is predicting the future, and my crystal ball is cloudy and cracked. But my basic thesis about Meditech?…

  3. RE Judy Faulkner's foundation wishes: Different area, but read up on the Barnes Foundation to see how things work out…

  4. Meditech certainly benefited from Cerner and Allscripts stumbles and before that the failures of ECW and Athena’s inpatient expansions. I…

  5. Yes, Meditech will talk your ears off about Expanse. There are multiple factors at play here which undercut both Meditech…

Founding Sponsors


 

Platinum Sponsors


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gold Sponsors


 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

RSS Webinars

  • An error has occurred, which probably means the feed is down. Try again later.