(2007-02-13) Kling5 Healthcare Questions

Arnold Kling sees 5 key HealthCare Public Policy questions. And makes some recommendations

• universal Catastrophic Health Insurance

• a Government Health Service - available to everyone but which no one is required to use, with Means Tested cost-sharing. Actually it sounds like the practitioners would still be private people/groups, but managed like a government HMO (I Commented to seek clarification). When consumers use the government health service, they do not get to pick their own doctor. The government picks the doctor, from a list of qualified physicians whose fees are on the low end of the range commonly charged. This is mainly a vehicle for controlling cost through rationing: The Board would make a broad determination of which treatments are approved. In this regard, the Board would be expected to be a slow adopter of expensive medical technology. Before approving a costly innovative treatment, the Board would wait until its use in the private sector has been proven and the price has started to come down.

In the comments the issue of Trade Guild power over pricing comes up.