The battle over health care reform has reached a turning point.
We can try to fashion new policies based on old ideas.or we can
acknowledge today's demographic and economic realities. In Health
Care Turning Point, health policy expert Roger Battistella argues
that the conventional wisdom that dominates health policy debates
is out of date. Battistella takes on popular misconceptions about
the advantages of single-payer plans, the role of the market, and
other health policy issues and outlines a pragmatic new approach.
Few would disagree that the current system is broken. Employer-
supplied health insurance no longer works; it imposes a heavy
burden on American companies when they compete against international
firms and creates insecurity and instability for American workers.
But, Battistella asserts provocatively, a government takeover of
health insurance patterned after Medicare and Medicaid won't work
either. With a battered economy and an aging population, the
country simply can't afford it. Battistella argues that contrary
to popular belief, single-payer coverage will not lower health
spending but would encourage overconsumption and drive costs up.
The most efficient and affordable way to reform health care,
Battistella contends, is for consumers to take ownership of it.
If consumers were responsible for buying their own health
insurance (as they are for buying their own car and home insurance),
he argues, they'd look for value and demand greater price and
quality transparency from providers. Health insurance would be
more like other forms of insurance and focus on major expenses,
with routine care paid for out of pocket.
The economic shibboleth that the principles of market competition
don.t apply to health care is nonsense, Battistella says. We won't
achieve real health care reform until policy makers adjust to this
reality and adopt a more pragmatic view.
HEALTH CARE TURNING POINT'S MYTHS ABOUT HEALTH CARE REFORM:
* Health care is a social good that should be free to all.
* Single-payer coverage lowers health spending and eliminates social
and economic health disparities.
* Prevention generates big savings.
* More health spending will stimulate the economy and have a positive
effect on health status and longevity.
* Canada provides a desirable blueprint for U.S. health reform.
* The principles of market competition aren't applicable to health care.
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