U.S. Health Care System Overhaul Needed To Reduce Costs, Columnist Writes

Main Category: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Also Included In: Public Health
Article Date: 04 Jul 2008 - 10:00 PDT

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"Health care will become one of the most onerous personal finance issues in coming years unless the system is changed to ensure universal access, cost control and long-term financing," Bloomberg columnist John Wasik writes in the Bloomberg/Boston Globe. He writes that the establishment of an "entirely government-run program may be untenable and politically unacceptable," and that the "road to a solution can merge both private and public interest." According to Wasik, such a "hybrid" health care system would use audit firms to determine areas to reduce costs, negotiate lower prices for services, base payments for services on performance and outcomes, and increase use of efficient technologies.

He writes, "Massive buying power through consolidation of separate programs and a public-private partnership" would "make health care available to more than 47 million who don't have coverage." Wasik writes, "The health care picture of the future isn't cloudy," adding, "There will be devastating financial consequences if we don't hunker down and prepare for a much more severe fiscal storm" (Wasik, Bloomberg/Boston Globe, 7/2).

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