Newt Gingrich, former speaker of the U.S. House and the rare conservative who likes to promote new ideas, was in St. Louis today to commend state Rep. Brian Yates (R-Lee's Summit) and two other Missouri lawmakers for a bill that targets Medicare and Medicaid fraud.
One of Gingrich's gigs these days is the Center for Health Transformation, a for-profit association of health care providers. The association believes that fraud and waste account for $100 billion in health care spending.
Gingrich is excited by a provision in the Missouri law that puts on the Internet what health care providers charge Medicaid patients. Gingrich called the law "pioneering" in a conference call with reporters.
A free-market guy, Gingrich sounded hopeful the database would enable consumers to make better choices. Liberal columnist Paul Krugman, among others, thinks health care is ill-suited for comparison shopping ("I hear they've got a real deal on stents over at St. Mary's!" Krugman recently joked).
Gingrich said he'd like to see the Congress work to eliminate fraud before making other reforms to the system. Asked if he preferred a plan under consideration in Washington, Gingrich said he was encouraged by the work of the Blue Dog Democrats and the bipartisan leadership on the Senate Finance Committee. He called the bill in the House proposed by liberals "a disaster."
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