WSJ Opinion: The 'Cost Control' Bill of Goods

Like I mentioned in previous blog entries, seems like cost-containment may not be achieved with the current medical reform bills. Even Atul Gawande (my favorite doctor/journalist) admitted that the efficacy of proposed cost saving measures have not been proved and may not actually work: "no master plan for dealing with the problem of soaring medical costs," only "a battery of small scale experiments."

This is disappointing news to say the least. The biggest problem with healthcare is that it’s currently unsustainable. The issue of extended coverage should be secondary to controlling costs. If costs aren’t controlled then there will be no health care to speak of. The focus on universal coverage without the cost savings benefits just doesn’t make sense to me.

Some numbers:

“Medicare spending has risen on average at an annual rate of 9.6% since 1980. Over the same period total Medicare spending has grown 13-fold, climbing from 1.2% of the economy to 3.2% today.”

Concerning.

The 'Cost Control' Bill of Goods