NEJM Perspectives Examine Shattuck Lecture, McCain, Obama Health Care Reform Plans

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Also Included In: Public Health;  Primary Care / General Practice
Article Date: 22 Aug 2008 - 8:00 PDT

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"Health of the Nation -- Coverage for All Americans," New England Journal of Medicine: The perspective reviews the 2008 Shattuck Lecture, sponsored by NEJM and the Massachusetts Medical Society, in which 13 health care industry representatives discussed current challenges facing the U.S. health care system and possible solutions. The panel discussed physicians' objections to a reimbursement program that pays more for technology-enhanced procedures instead of time spent with patients, reviewed the need for developing health care information technology and expressed concern about the high costs associated with new drugs and end-of-life care (NEJM [1], 8/21). A related NEJM editorial discusses the health care proposals of presumptive presidential nominees Sens. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) and John McCain (R-Ariz.) and questions whether any "meaningful health care reform" will take shape in the next administration. The editorial also calls for a "concentrated effort by all the major stakeholders in our health care system, as represented by the panelists," to bring about reform (NEJM [2], 8/21).

"The Partisan Divide -- The McCain and Obama Plans for U.S. Health Care Reform," NEJM: In an NEJM perspective, Jonathan Oberlander, an associate professor of social medicine and health policy and administration at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, examines the health plans of presidential candidates McCain and Obama. According to Oberlander, the candidates' "ambitious reform agendas ... would take the U.S. health care system in very different directions." He adds that the plans "are best viewed as sketches rather than finished portraits, with many important details yet to be revealed." He concludes, "The candidates' opposing visions of health care reform reflect fundamentally different assumptions about the virtues and vices of markets and government. With the debate over how to reform U.S. health care far from settled, whoever wins the presidency can expect fierce opposition to any attempt at comprehensive reform" (Oberlander, NEJM, 8/22).

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