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Biden avoids tough issues at Chicago roundtable
Vice President Joe Biden’s Chicago roundtable on health care Thursday was as noteworthy for what wasn’t discussed at it as for what was.
A public health insurance option dominates the national discussion. The vice president talked about electronic record-keeping.
Why? Because no one objects to electronic record-keeping. It may be the least contentious reform proposal.
But the real way you know it was a dog-and-pony show was by seeing who got the invite. Roland Burris, Lisa Madigan, Jan Schakowsky and a whole bunch of doctors from Sinai hospital in their spiffy white coats.
Roland Burris isn’t likely to show up at a health care discussion unless he knows he won’t have to answer any tough questions.
In fact, he didn’t have to answer a single one. The panel itself took no questions from the audience and none from the press.
To call that a discussion strains credulity.
No question electronic records beat manila folders with brads. And no doubt $1.2 billion to help hospitals and clinics launch electronic records systems helps. But do we really need to have a roundtable discussion about it?
Is that really why the vice president flew to Chicago? To convince us of that?
Here are links to today’s coverage of the event:
- Chicago Tribune: Vice President Joe Biden hears from hospitals about getting medical records online
- Chicago Sun-Times: Biden pitches health care plan on the West Side
- Associated Press: Biden To Announce Almost $1.2B For Medical Records
- Chicago Public Radio: Joe Biden Brings Health Care Fight To Chicago
- Medill News Service: Biden plays it safe on health care — no public option debate here
- Daily Herald: Biden in town to announce almost $1.2 billion for medical records
