Jan. 22In a wide-ranging talk that touched on what he called wasteful stimulus spending and on President Barack Obama's inauguration speech, former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich said Wednesday that Omaha could gain a "significant competitive advantage" by making its health care system more efficient and effective.
Omaha already is moving to improve its medical system through the "Healthy Omaha" project and efforts to promote electronic medical records and transparent pricing, Gingrich told about 1,400 people at the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce's annual meeting at the La Vista Hotel and Conference Center.
(The program, "Healthy Omaha Top 10 in 10," aims to make metro Omaha one of the top 10 healthiest communities in the country within 10 years, as measured by five indicators.)
Gingrich said Omaha's efforts could spread to Iowa, South Dakota, North Dakota, Wyoming and Kansas, creating a regional health care information network that would reduce costs and improve quality of care.
Gingrich said Obama's inauguration address was "not a particularly great speech," but he urged people to reread it to understand that the president is focused on "challenges vastly larger than what he imagined."
In an interview, Gingrich also said Obama could use his public support to keep leaders in the House and Senate from pushing through a "hard left" political agenda, especially an effort to deny secret ballots for workers voting on union membership.
After serving 20 years in Congress, including four years as speaker, Gingrich left elected office in 1999 and founded the Center for Health Transformation, which promotes efficiency and quality in health care.
The group will meet in Omaha later this year, he said, in part because of the efforts by Omaha health care groups, especially Alegent Health, to improve medical care and reduce costs.
Gingrich criticized federal economic stimulus spending so far and said he expects more money to be wasted. Obama and his staff are too eager to pass another stimulus package, he said.
"They're not thinking critically."
He said the nation's financial system has suffered such drastic changes that no one knows how to fix it. Instead of trying to understand the changes, government leaders have been scared into quick decisions.
"There's too much spending and not enough reforming in the stimulus programs," he said.
One good proposal by Obama's team is to spend stimulus money to expand electronic health care record-keeping, he said, a step that would save money and improve treatment results.
He said it's important for Obama to bring Republicans into the decision-making process, even though Obama's party controls both houses of Congress. President Reagan succeeded in winning support from Democrats, Gingrich said, and Obama has said he hopes to win support from Republicans.
With one party controlling both the legislative and executive branches, Gingrich said, "you can talk yourself into some pretty dumb things."
Gingrich said House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid favor more liberal policies than Obama, who has more centrist political positions. "I think there's some real tension there," Gingrich said.
Obama's policies can succeed if he appeals to Republican members of Congress, Gingrich said, and takes advantage of his strong public support.
Contact the writer: 444-1080, steve.jordon@owh.com
