Ten Health Reform Prediction Tweets

We live in an age of limited attention spans. That’s why Twitter limits Tweets to 140 characters. Writing a tweet concentrates the mind. I know. Lately I’ve been tweeting to summarize my blogs.

In keeping with this craving for brevity, I have come up with ten tweets to enshrine where I think health reform is headed over the next six years, assuming President Obama is re-elected, which is far from a sure thing.

• Emergency room crowding will escalate by 15 to 20 percent , as it has in Massachusetts. (73 characters)

• Fifty percent of physicians will no longer accept new Medicare patients, precipitating a political crisis. (107 characters)

• Waiting times to see doctors will lengthen, perhaps even double as they have in Massachusetts. (95 characters)


• Lack of physician access will compel seniors to act like Medicaid patients, seeking care from community centers and safety-net hospitals. (140 characters)

• Republicans will regain control of the House and governorships, and with 47 Senate seats it will have a filibuster proof minority. (138 characters)


• Repeal and Replacement will fail because a two-third vote is required to overturn a Presidential veto. (104 characters)

• Election results, state revolts, jobless blues, and Big Government fears, will force numerous mid-course health reform corrections. (138 characters)

• Implementation of health reform rules, mandates, and health exchanges will be difficult due to legal and bureaucratic challenges. (134 characters)

• Health savings plan ownership will reach 50 million as people seek more choice and relief from high cost HMO and PPO premiums. (131 characters)

• The issue of the individual mandate will reach the Supreme Court, and it will decide by a 5-4 decision that it is unconstitutional. (134 characters)


There, I have done it. I have passed the Tweet characters test. My overall tweet for this blog reads: “ In today’s blog, I indicate proponents of health reform over the next six years face tough political sledding, corrections, and reversals."(140 characters. How tweet it is.

A caveat. Eight of the ten prediction tweets will come true. Two will not. You decide which eight and which two. Think of the next six years as a which hunt.