Not The Last President

Atul Gawande approved of Obama's speech. On reform more generally:

[T]his is just a start. Our current health-care system presents seemingly insurmountable difficulties. It is too big, too complex, too entrenched, bloated, Byzantine, and slowly bursting. What may be most challenging about reforming it is that it cannot be fixed in one fell swoop of radical surgery. The repair is going to be a process, not a one-time event. The proposals Obama offers, and that Congress is slowly chewing over, would provide a dramatic increase in security for the average American. But they will only begin the journey toward transforming our system to provide safer, better, less wasteful care. We do not yet know with conviction all the steps that will rein in costs while keeping care safe. So, even if these initial reforms pass, we have to be prepared to come back every year or two to take another few hard and fiercely battled steps forward.