Stabilize the Health Care Cost Curve By Making Public Payers Address PRICE vs. VALUE

Impact

The three main pillars of sound health policy revolve around Cost, Quality, and Access.  Post-ACA, the largest remaining challenge, on which the U.S. is an extreme outlier, is Cost.  The difficulty we have in truly addressing Cost stems partially from misconceptions among both major political parties about the true relationships, or lack thereof, between Cost, Quality, and Access.  In an article I published last year, I highlight that all Americans -- and all major public/private payers -- are getting a raw deal on prices for the value and volume of health care we receive.  My proposal is to accelerate and strengthen provisions already contained in the Affordable Care Act.  My recommendations also center on rapidly scaling up the use of cost-effectiveness research to drive Medicare payment policy, and include allowing greater use of high-deductible health plans and greater dissemination/ transparency of information on both prices and clinical effectiveness in the delivery of health care.