Thanks, Dr, McClellan

Kim Strassel of the WSJ Ed Page pens a nice piece lauding Dr. Mark McClellan:

Republicans won a big victory this week, shooting down a Democratic plan for more government-run health care. The GOP victors, and free-marketers, might send their thank-you notes to Dr. Mark McClellan.

Dr. McClellan is the 43-year-old internist who, until recently, held the thankless job of running Medicare. He was handed the further thankless task of designing and implementing Congress's tepid 2003 Medicare reform. And he's the big brain who then wrung every last ounce out of that authority to create a striking new model for Medicare competition that is today not only performing beyond expectations, but is changing the political health-care debate.

She goes on to credit him with a great part of the success of the Medicare Part D, and much of the parts that free market lovers actually like about it.

Dr. McClellan's solution was a program that gave companies maximum freedom to design plans, bundle drugs and turn a profit. He was a salesman, talking up the opportunities and even traveling to New York to reassure Wall Street. It worked, and by the first days of business most seniors were being courted by anywhere from 11 to 23 plan sponsors. Those numbers have only grown, creating so much competition that sponsors are eliminating deductibles, lowering premiums, offering more drugs. It's also led to smart cost-cutting and efficiencies; an estimated 60% of Medicare prescriptions are now for generics.

She titles the piece "The Competence Man." When some of the President’s picks have seemed not to be the best and brightest, Dr. Mac was an exception (his brother did okay at press secretary, but was no Tony Snow).

I wrote about Dr, McClellan in May of 2003 in an essay called "The Best and the Brightest."

Last night, I saw Dr. McClellan. The dude is an M.D. and has a PhD. in Economics. He has taken on one of the most stifling, sclerotic, anti-competitive bureaucracies and is leading it the right way. His fast tracking of Cancer drugs will save tens of thousands of lives. His less-adversarial demeanor will bring back capital to the pharmaceutical sector, which will save millions. The Wall Street Journal has relentlessly attacked the FDA before his tenure, doing their best work around the Erbitux-ImClone-Waksal-and-Martha-Stewart imbroglio. But there’s a new sheriff in town.

McClellan was starting to reform my bete noire, the FDA. I was saddened when he was moved out of that post to Medicare but it seems that move might have saved this nation Billions of dollars.

Thanks, Doc.

Pharmaceuticals Posted by jk at April 20, 2007 5:49 PM