Reforming US Health Care
Key Considerations for the New Administration
- Victor R. Fuchs, PhD
- Author Affiliation: Departments of Economics and Health Research and Policy, Stanford University, Stanford, California.
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
- KEYWORDS:
- CHANGE MANAGEMENT
- COOPERATIVE BEHAVIOR
- COSTS AND COST ANALYSIS
- EVIDENCE-BASED MEDICINE
- HEALTH CARE SYSTEM REFORM
- HEALTH POLICY
- MEDICALLY UNINSURED
- ORGANIZATIONAL CULTURE
- ORGANIZATIONAL INNOVATION
- RISK-TAKING
The election of President Barack Obama has set in motion high expectations that he will undertake systematic reform of the US health care system in his first term. Such reform must address 3 persistent problems: the uninsured, the high and rapidly increasing cost of care, and significant lapses in quality. Having studied these problems for more than 40 years, I would like to share in this Commentary some conclusions about reforming health care in the United States. Before suggesting what should and should not be done, however, it is important to learn from the failure of the proposed health reform in 1993.
Sixteen years ago a bright, young, charismatic Democratic politician entered the White House with a high priority of reforming US health care. The First Lady, Hillary Clinton, led the effort; a 500-person task force worked on the plan for more than a year; and Democrats controlled both houses …
