To paraphrase the late economist Uwe Reinhardt, PhD: "Sure, I’d love the health system of [name your favorite country]…but I’d need you to transplant their political, social, and economic systems as well."
While we wait for a national transplant that won’t be rejected by our unique American governing bodies, I invite you to read three short papers that explain why health care costs in the United States are so high compared with other countries; why we may never spend less on clinical care than we do today; and why we should focus on the policies we can feasibly tweak to get the most out of our $4 trillion a year in a way that matters to patients and families.
I hope you will check out the papers and read a short piece published this week in AAMCNews.
I’d love your feedback on these issue briefs and hope that we can continue the conversation.
