White House Economic Advisor Allan B. Hubbard resigned at the end of 2007, just in time to avoid the financial firestorm of 2008. A Washington Post piece said this regarding the potential impact of his departure, ""But if we went into a deep recession and felt like we needed a stimulus package, then the White House might be a little constrained by a lack of manpower."
But will we really miss Al's consultation? His health care advice was at least a decade old. I haven't had "first dollar" health insurance since the late 1980's. My self pay portion of premiums, deductibles and co-payments grew like Jack's beanstalk every year. Al joined the Bush administration fresh from the Board Room chair at WellPoint, a giant health insurer. There he sat next to William H.T. Bush and Mrs. Evan Bayh (Susan). President George W. recently blocked a planned children's health insurance expansion to protect "private insurers", including Uncle Bucky's WellPoint. Bush state his preference for private health care long ago.
Why would the head economic adviser leave during a time of deepening concern to spend time with family? Regardless of the true reason, the White House had the usual glowing things to say about another departing under performer. "Al Hubbard has led the economic policy making process in my administration for some of the most challenging economic issues confronting our nation," Bush said in a statement.
Here's my assessment. Al got the White House job to push changes in health policy. Entering an election year, that priority sat dead in the water. Besides his cushy board seat for WellPoint, Mr. Hubbard also sat on the board of Medical Savings Insurance, a company specializing in medical savings accounts. MSA's were the precursor to Bush's tonic for all the ills of America's health care system, health savings accounts or HSA's, which enable individuals to set aside tax free money to use on health care services.
Al pushed HSA's like crazy, only to have them end up on the Treasury Department's website. One might expect the National Economic Council to have their own website chartering their progress on key issues. Yet, both groups fudged the impact of the President's signature strategy. Al fumbled the most basic question on HSA's at a press conference. He couldn't state the predicted take up rate. Treasury fudges the number by projecting the number covered by "HSA type health plans" instead of those with actual health savings accounts. It's only 25% of those eligible.
I think simple Al got pushed aside, in favor of astute Hank. However, if the Treasury can't be honest with Americans about something as simple as how many people have funded health savings accounts, should we rest assured that Hank Paulson is managing our government's response to the credit crisis? While I have relief that Al's not involved, nagging doubts remain regarding the Bush team's ability to speak honestly to the public.
But will we really miss Al's consultation? His health care advice was at least a decade old. I haven't had "first dollar" health insurance since the late 1980's. My self pay portion of premiums, deductibles and co-payments grew like Jack's beanstalk every year. Al joined the Bush administration fresh from the Board Room chair at WellPoint, a giant health insurer. There he sat next to William H.T. Bush and Mrs. Evan Bayh (Susan). President George W. recently blocked a planned children's health insurance expansion to protect "private insurers", including Uncle Bucky's WellPoint. Bush state his preference for private health care long ago.
Why would the head economic adviser leave during a time of deepening concern to spend time with family? Regardless of the true reason, the White House had the usual glowing things to say about another departing under performer. "Al Hubbard has led the economic policy making process in my administration for some of the most challenging economic issues confronting our nation," Bush said in a statement.
Here's my assessment. Al got the White House job to push changes in health policy. Entering an election year, that priority sat dead in the water. Besides his cushy board seat for WellPoint, Mr. Hubbard also sat on the board of Medical Savings Insurance, a company specializing in medical savings accounts. MSA's were the precursor to Bush's tonic for all the ills of America's health care system, health savings accounts or HSA's, which enable individuals to set aside tax free money to use on health care services.
Al pushed HSA's like crazy, only to have them end up on the Treasury Department's website. One might expect the National Economic Council to have their own website chartering their progress on key issues. Yet, both groups fudged the impact of the President's signature strategy. Al fumbled the most basic question on HSA's at a press conference. He couldn't state the predicted take up rate. Treasury fudges the number by projecting the number covered by "HSA type health plans" instead of those with actual health savings accounts. It's only 25% of those eligible.
I think simple Al got pushed aside, in favor of astute Hank. However, if the Treasury can't be honest with Americans about something as simple as how many people have funded health savings accounts, should we rest assured that Hank Paulson is managing our government's response to the credit crisis? While I have relief that Al's not involved, nagging doubts remain regarding the Bush team's ability to speak honestly to the public.
