http://blogs.usatoday.com/oped/2010/02/opposing-view-tackle-costs-first.html
"To reform the system and reduce costs, we should put quality, private coverage within reach for more Americans by increasing competition and consumer choice. For example, consumers should be allowed to purchase health insurance across state lines. Congress should also end the tax bias against individually purchased health insurance.
States can also play an important role in lowering costs. They should reduce the mandates on health insurance plans, which increase the costs of basic coverage anywhere from 20% to 50%, and encourage the expanded use of innovations such as electronic medical records and health savings accounts.
Finally, before we expand Medicaid, we should fix it. That means aggressive efforts to stop fraud and abuse, estimated to cost up to $25 billion annually, as well as giving beneficiaries a greater role in containing costs.
In the end, we'd expand access to quality health care by reducing costs and increasing competition, not by putting more government between Americans and their doctors."
If they'd like to earn the trust of the public, perhaps the administration could demonstrate its competence by making more than a tiny dent in the mountain of fraud that seems endemic to government programs like medicare and medicaid.
No comments:
Post a Comment