The New York Times
Current Health Care Legislation Will Not Control Medical Costs, Experts Warn
“…some of the nation’s foremost experts are warning that the emerging bills do not do enough quickly to tamp down soaring medical costs — the biggest problem facing the majority of Americans, who already have insurance.”
“Dr. Elliot G. Fisher, director of the Center for Health Policy Research at Dartmouth College said the bills did not include a tool to promote cost-efficient care…”
“A number of strategies to transform the health care system, such as promoting research into the most effective treatments and encouraging doctors and hospitals to form “accountable care organizations,” are included in the legislation, but either in a limited way or as small demonstration projects. Experts, including Dr. Cosgrove of the Cleveland Clinic and Denis A. Cortese, the chief executive of the Mayo Clinic, said lawmakers could be more aggressive on those fronts. They also said the bills could do far more to push Americans to take responsibility for their own health, especially by reducing obesity.”
“…Elizabeth A. McGlynn, associate director of RAND Health, said that her firm’s research showed that the legislation would do more to provide benefits for the uninsured than to change the overall upward trajectory in spending. ‘We are not really seeing a lot of evidence that the trajectory would change very much,’ Ms. McGlynn said.”
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