By using this site, you agree to the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.
Accept
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
  • Health
    • Mental Health
    Health
    Healthcare organizations are operating on slimmer profit margins than ever. One report in August showed that they are even lower than the beginning of the…
    Show More
    Top News
    mosquito misting spray to fight malaria
    Avoid Malaria with Mosquito Misting Systems
    June 12, 2023
    Medical Surveys
    Beyond the Clinic: Medical Surveys Are a Roadmap to Passive Income for Doctors
    September 23, 2023
    Glutathione
    What Are The Benefits of Glutathione?
    January 22, 2024
    Latest News
    6 Easy Healthcare Ways to Sit Less and Move More Every Day
    September 10, 2025
    7 Most Common Healthcare Accreditation Programs: Which Should You Use?
    August 20, 2025
    Hospital Pest Control and the Fight Against Superbugs
    August 20, 2025
    Hygiene Beyond The Clinic: Attention To Overlooked Non-Clinical Spaces
    August 13, 2025
  • Policy and Law
    • Global Healthcare
    • Medical Ethics
    Policy and Law
    Get the latest updates about Insurance policies and Laws in the Healthcare industry for different geographical locations.
    Show More
    Top News
    Tips for Older Travelers
    April 14, 2012
    Anti-RUC Suit Challenges Process for Setting Doc Pay Scales
    October 25, 2011
    Math Matters: Dosing Errors Can Be Deadly
    May 1, 2012
    Latest News
    Healthcare at a Crossroads: Why Leadership Matters More Than Ever
    September 9, 2025
    How Social Security Disability Shapes Access to Care and Everyday Health
    August 22, 2025
    How a DUI Lawyer Can Help When Your Future Health Feels Uncertain
    August 22, 2025
    How One Fall Can Lead to a Long Road of Medical Complications
    August 22, 2025
  • Medical Innovations
  • News
  • Wellness
  • Tech
Search
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Reading: The “Deep State” in American Health Care
Share
Notification Show More
Font ResizerAa
Health Works CollectiveHealth Works Collective
Font ResizerAa
Search
Follow US
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
© 2023 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
Health Works Collective > Policy & Law > Health Reform > The “Deep State” in American Health Care
Health ReformPolicy & LawPublic Health

The “Deep State” in American Health Care

John Graham
John Graham
Share
4 Min Read
American health care
SHARE

American health careIn a recent blog entry, The Wall Street Journal‘s Peggy Noonan suggested the existence of a “deep state” within the national-security apparatus of the U.S. government.

American health careIn a recent blog entry, The Wall Street Journal‘s Peggy Noonan suggested the existence of a “deep state” within the national-security apparatus of the U.S. government.

Usually, the “deep state” refers to a function of the Turkish Army, which was re-organized by Kemal Ataturk after the defeat of the Ottoman Empire in the First World War and endowed with the implicit authority to overthrow the civilian government if the generals thought it necessary to preserve the nation-state.

Ms. Noonan did not go so far as to assert that the CIA, FBI, or Pentagon threatens to overthrow our government. Rather, she meant that the national-security bureaucracies are so deeply embedded in the American state that it is not possible for the political branches to control them. They do their own thing.

More Read

BYOD and healthcare
Prioritizing Security in the Era of Healthcare BYOD
Busan is in the air: GAVI gets in front
Boomer Voice: The Perfect HealthCare Provider (IMHO)
How Should We Choose Health Insurance Policy for Senior Citizens?
Tackling the Side Effects of Parkinson’s Treatment

Fair enough. But I’d like to nominate another branch of the national bureaucracy as the “deep state”: The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services and its related agencies.

Although we are currently witnessing a spectacle of Congressional oversight of the inept rollout of the ObamaCare health-insurance exchange websites, this is done for the TV cameras. ObamaCare, a two-thousand page long, impossible to understand “law”, is lurching along under its own momentum.

Indeed, important parts of the program barely conform to the law as written. In July, the Treasury Department simply announced that it would delay the “employer mandate”, a fine (or tax, if you prefer) on employers which do not offer ObamaCare-compliant health benefits, until 2015. This, despite the fact that the law unambiguously states that the mandate comes into effect in 2014. On the other hand, the bureaucracy has refused to grant administrative relief to individuals, who must pay a similar fine (or tax) if they don’t purchase ObamaCare-compliant plans next year.

The healthcare bureaucracy’s status as a “deep state” is an important factor explaining why ObamaCare is unfathomable. Politicians have little control over this deep state, so they simply grant it more and more power. Philip Klein of the American Spectator went through the law and counted over 700 stipulations which contained the term “the Secretary shall“, over 200 cases of “the Secretary may“, and 139 cases of “the Secretary determines.”

Of course, it is now clear that Secretary Sebelius did not make any serious determinations. Rather, they have been made by many unidentified career agents of healthcare’s deep state, who spend their days responding to lobbyists’ “concerns” about this rule or that regulation, while drafting thousands of pages of impenetrable regulatory guidance.

James Madison warned us that “It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.”

Half a century of federal intrusion into health care has resulted in exactly that ― and a “deep state” that will be exceedingly difficult to overthrow, despite the clumsy launch of ObamaCare’s website.

(American Health Care / shutterstock)
TAGGED:obamacare
Share This Article
Facebook Copy Link Print
Share

Stay Connected

1.5kFollowersLike
4.5kFollowersFollow
2.8kFollowersPin
136kSubscribersSubscribe

Latest News

a woman walking on the hallway
6 Easy Healthcare Ways to Sit Less and Move More Every Day
Health
September 9, 2025
Clinical Expertise
Healthcare at a Crossroads: Why Leadership Matters More Than Ever
Global Healthcare
September 9, 2025
travel nurse in north carolina
Balancing Speed and Scope: Choosing the Nursing Degree That Fits Your Goals
Nursing
September 1, 2025
intimacy
How to Keep Intimacy Comfortable as You Age
Relationship and Lifestyle Senior Care
September 1, 2025

You Might also Like

aging process
Public Health

Aging Gracefully: Part 1

December 17, 2014

PPACA: 2 or 3 Possible End Games

September 4, 2011

Sovaldi: An Example of Price Discrimination

March 30, 2015

Recruiting Patients for Studies Getting Easier

March 20, 2013
Subscribe
Subscribe to our newsletter to get our newest articles instantly!
Follow US
© 2008-2025 HealthWorks Collective. All Rights Reserved.
  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy
Welcome Back!

Sign in to your account

Username or Email Address
Password

Lost your password?