Monday, July 31, 2006
Your health matters
[Devon Herrick, "Medicine Can Be Consumer-Centric," Health Care News, The Heartland Institute, 1 August 2006.]
NCPA's Devon Herrick reviews an important new book on U.S. health care in the latest issue of Health Care News:
"For far too long, the [health care] news has been dominated by myths and misconceptions, and truth has been buried," Gregory Dattilo and Dave Racer write in their new book, Your Health Matters: What You Need to Know about U.S. Health Care. The system, they note, is made up of a patchwork of public and private payers, which the authors point out many Americans find complex and confusing.
Yet we have a greater stake in how well our health care system functions than in any other industry, because "nothing else matters if life itself is threatened by illness or injury," they write. Therefore, the U.S. health care system, with its extensive safety net, reflects our willingness to do all within our power to extend life and alleviate pain and suffering.
In writing this book, the authors aim to crush health care myths, remove misconceptions, and make people aware that today's decisions will affect tomorrow's health care system. They begin by debunking the common misconception that the United States has a "health care crisis." There is no crisis of "care," say Dattilo and Racer; rather, the United States has a crisis of "cost."
Bit by bit, Dattilo and Racer identify the origins of the problems with the U.S. health care system. Before 1940, health insurance was almost unheard of, and patients paid most of their medical bills directly out of pocket. Today, slightly more than 10 percent of medical bills are paid directly, and many people consider health insurance coverage to be synonymous with health care.
Fortunately, the market can cure what ails U.S. health care, say the authors.
Doctors practicing under consumer-driven health care will interact with patients differently than those working under managed care. They will have to provide information, answer questions, and give options that fit patients' preferences, forcing medicine to become consumer-centric, say the authors.
To achieve this, however, will require a new mindset from patients, providers, and payers. For its part, government will have to stop interfering in the health care market with unnecessary and counterproductive mandates and regulations.
[Richard Warner, "Competing Visions of Medical Care," Kansas Medical Society Presidential installation speech, 5 May 2006.]
NCPA's Devon Herrick reviews an important new book on U.S. health care in the latest issue of Health Care News:
"For far too long, the [health care] news has been dominated by myths and misconceptions, and truth has been buried," Gregory Dattilo and Dave Racer write in their new book, Your Health Matters: What You Need to Know about U.S. Health Care. The system, they note, is made up of a patchwork of public and private payers, which the authors point out many Americans find complex and confusing.
Yet we have a greater stake in how well our health care system functions than in any other industry, because "nothing else matters if life itself is threatened by illness or injury," they write. Therefore, the U.S. health care system, with its extensive safety net, reflects our willingness to do all within our power to extend life and alleviate pain and suffering.
In writing this book, the authors aim to crush health care myths, remove misconceptions, and make people aware that today's decisions will affect tomorrow's health care system. They begin by debunking the common misconception that the United States has a "health care crisis." There is no crisis of "care," say Dattilo and Racer; rather, the United States has a crisis of "cost."
Bit by bit, Dattilo and Racer identify the origins of the problems with the U.S. health care system. Before 1940, health insurance was almost unheard of, and patients paid most of their medical bills directly out of pocket. Today, slightly more than 10 percent of medical bills are paid directly, and many people consider health insurance coverage to be synonymous with health care.
Fortunately, the market can cure what ails U.S. health care, say the authors.
Doctors practicing under consumer-driven health care will interact with patients differently than those working under managed care. They will have to provide information, answer questions, and give options that fit patients' preferences, forcing medicine to become consumer-centric, say the authors.
To achieve this, however, will require a new mindset from patients, providers, and payers. For its part, government will have to stop interfering in the health care market with unnecessary and counterproductive mandates and regulations.
[Richard Warner, "Competing Visions of Medical Care," Kansas Medical Society Presidential installation speech, 5 May 2006.]
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