This Article  • Full text PDF  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Similar articles in JAMA  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Stuart M. Butler, PhD

JAMA. 1995;273(3):253-254.

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

America can in 1995 take the right steps needed to reform the health care system if policymakers recognize that for the vast majority of working Americans, security was and remains a central issue—the fear that health care services they are comfortable with today will not be there in the future.

It is crucial to understand that this insecurity is in part inherent in the employer-provided insurance system, although other factors do contribute to insecurity. Americans typically choose and own their life insurance, their home, and their car, and their place of employment is irrelevant to the choices available. With this ownership comes control and security. But in health care, the employer typically owns their policy, deciding which major services will be covered and, increasingly, who will provide them. The employer's overriding concern of curbing cost typically conflicts with the employee's concern of access to certain services and physicians and simplicity . . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]

Author Affiliations
From the Heritage Foundation, Washington, DC.

Footnotes
Reprint requests to the Heritage Foundation, 214 Massachusetts Ave NE, Washington, DC 20002 (Dr Butler).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?