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William B. Stason, MD, MS

JAMA. 1991;265(17):2237-2238.

	Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text PDF and any section headings.

Oregon's plan to prioritize health care services for coverage under its Medicaid program offers a unique opportunity to focus national debate on health insurance reform. There is little question that our present system is a patchwork with many serious failings: (1) continued escalation of costs despite managed care initiatives, utilization management, and prospective payment for hospital care; (2) inequities in physician reimbursement; (3) the large number (>37 million) of Americans who have no insurance and the many more who are underinsured; and (4) the dramatic geographic variations in the use of health services, without corresponding evidence of differences in health. The Oregon plan is a bold attempt to maximize health care benefits for Medicaid recipients within severe budgetary limitations. This ambitious experiment should be encouraged. The value of lessons to be learned— positive and negative—far outweighs the potential risks.

The essence of this plan, as ably described by Hadorn¹ . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
From Health Economics Research Inc, Waltham, Mass.

Footnotes
Reprint requests to Health Economics Research Inc, 300 Fifth Ave, Sixth Floor, Waltham, MA 02154 (Dr Stason).

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