Here is one take on the healthcare reform bill by Nobel Prize economist, Gary Becker who as WSJ points out, “has nothing left to prove”.
“we spend about 17% of our GDP on health care, but out-of-pocket expenses make up only about 12% of total health-care spending. In Switzerland, where they spend only 11% of GDP on health care, their out-of-pocket expenses equal about 31% of total spending. The difference between 12% and 31% is huge. Once people begin spending substantial sums from their own pockets, they become willing to shop around. Ordinary market incentives begin to operate. A good bill would have encouraged that.”
Let’s imagine if you had to pay 31% of a bill for your medical care. Would you:
Question every test?
Want to know if the physician had conflict of interest in their referrals?
Want to know less expensive alternatives to surgery, drugs, or imaging?
Would you want to pay for physical therapy?
As a PT provider, if your patients had to pay 31% of their bill, would you?
Give them a screen and then a home exercise program?
Follow evidence-based guidelines?
I don’t think you need to worry about your answers at least for now. Instead we are going to get more and more regulation via approximately 150 new government agencies many of which are “oversight”. This of course means more chart reviews, coding primers, and paperwork and less questions from patients on efficacy, evidence, or quality.
