2. The real story underreported thus far is the lack of pickups the Democrats had in the House and Senate. Many predicted pickups would result in 60-plus Democratic seats in the Senate, and a pickup of 25 or more in the House. The popular vote ended up faily close (6 percent or so) and the net pickups were not as big as expected. Hence long-term, one-party rule is not the certainty some have been saying. The Republican Party must come forward and stand for something such as fiscal care, which it missed the last few years. That stated, it remains very much a two-party system. What is somewhat remarkable is, given the choice of Palin and the financial blowout over the last 45 days, how close it really was.
3. On healthcare, I think you will see a movement to something akin to the Massachusetts plan — all required to have coverage —but not a single payor system, a horrible system for all. Thank goodness.
4. On self-referral, I do have concern that, in the noise of all other aspects of policy over the next few years, the axis of Stark, Grassley and Baucus will have more power to harm physician-ownership of hospitals. I assume President Obama will sit down with this axis without preconditions. I believe, given the number of ASCs and the 35 percent discount on services that ASCs provide the government, that ASCs are far, far better-positioned than physician-owned hospitals.
5. Entrepreneur-driven healthcare will see not death but a tremendous reemergence over the next few years. Also, it is likely that existing physician-owned hospitals will continue to thrive.