Collins and Brooks on health care reform

Partisan Health Care Politics - The Conversation Blog - NYTimes.com

The conversation between Brooks and Collins is right on point. The bills being developed in Congress do not fundamentally shift the incentives in health care. We are cutting prices which really doesn't do anything to change doctor's incentives. If anything, they are more likely to medicalize their patients more... for example, Japan has been trying to control health care costs for the last two decades, and they have used prices as their main lever. Consequently since Revenue = price times quantity, all that Japanese physicians have done is reduce the time they see patients, and see more patients per session (raised quantity since prices are down, to maintain their revenue).

I like what Collins and Brooks argue for - a strong MedPAC that has teeth. Their reports are great - much like NICE in the NHS / UK - but just like NICE, there's no impetus for congress to act on MedPAC ideas.

I'm becoming more of the mind that health care needs strong intelligent technocrats, and not partisans who infuse ideology into difficult policy negotiations. the conversation between collins and brooks highlights that there are many principles that folks from both sides of the aisle can agree on.