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Category: Value of Medicine
Policymakers, who face ever-rising costs and severe budget constraints for health care programs, are searching for ways
to reduce expenditures—or at least, to slow their rate of growth. In this regard, measures to keep Americans healthier and more productive
throughout their lives—for instance, through access to medical innovations—should be particularly welcome.
Many debates in Washington, however, are taking on a completely different tone – emphasizing the "sticker price" of a
single treatment, rather than its clinical value or its effect on a patient's long-term quality of life. Despite rhetoric indicating the
contrary, the challenge of reducing health care expenditures does not lie simply in comparing price tags for newer and older treatments. It
is true that medical innovations such as new drugs and devices are often more expensive than existing products, but they may also provide
more effective treatment for a patient's condition. The use of newer medicines and devices may allow Americans who might otherwise become
unable to work due to sickness or disability remain in the work force for a longer period of time.
Legislators should therefore be wary of new laws or programs aimed at simply slashing expenditures on more expensive
drugs and treatments. The results of such new policies could have the opposite of the desired effect - leading to higher rates of disease
and disability and higher health care costs in the future.
[Spotlight] [Commentary] [Research] [Events] [News]
Spotlight
Commentary
- Promote health, not high costs, Editorial, Boston Globe, 8-11-10
- Wellness Programs Won't Necessarily Improve Health Or Lower Costs, Katherine Hobson, Wall Street Journal Health Blog, 7-29-10
- The limited benefits of first dollar health care coverage, Megan McArdle, The Atlantic, 2-17-09
- The Blue Pill Or The Red Pill?, Tomas Philipson, Forbes.com, 1-15-10
- Why Drug 'Reimportation' Won't Die, Gilbert Ross, Wall Street Journal, 1-7-10
- The "Costs" of Medical Care, Thomas Sowell, Townhall.com, 11-3-09
- Healthcare reform that's hard to swallow, Henry I. Miller and Jeff Stier, Los Angeles Times, 8-6-09
- Signing On to an Obama 'Dream', Wall Street Journal editorial, 5-12-09
- Controlling Doctors' Decisions, Betsy McCaughey, National Review Online, 5-1-09
- 'Follow-on biologics': a regulatory challenge, Rep. Nathan Deal, The Hill, 4-24-09
- Why 'Quality' Care Is Dangerous, Jerome Groopman and Pamela Hartzband, Wall Street Journal, 4-8-09
- Statins Dethroned, Matt Herper, Forbes, 4-2-09
- The truth about health care 'truths', David Gratzer, Dallas Morning News, 3-30-09
- A Hand in the Health Debate, Eugene Robinson, Washington Post, 3-17-09
- Companies that can help boost healthcare efficiency will benefit greatly, Andrew Mickey, Stockhouse, 3-11-09
- Don't Blame Drugs for Health-Care Costs, Sally Pipes, National Review Online, 3-11-09
- 'Too Old' for Hip Surgery, Nadeem Esmail, Wall Street Journal, 2-9-09
- Comparative Effectiveness in Health Care Reform: Lessons from Abroad, Helen Evans, The Heritage Foundation, 2-4-09
- We All Want Longer, Healthier Lives. But It's Going to Cost Us., David Brown, Washington Post, 1-11-09
- Pharmaceutical Price Regulation, John A. Vernon and Joseph H. Golec, American Enterprise Institute, 1-8-09
- The GOP Should Fight Health-Care Rationing, Rep. Tom Price, Wall Street Journal, 1-7-09
- Who Pays for a Cancer Drug?, Peter Huber, Forbes, 1-6-09
Research
- The Effect of Different Attribution Rules on Individual Physician Cost Profiles, Ateev Mehrotra, MD, MPH; John L. Adams, PhD; J. William Thomas, PhD; and Elizabeth A. McGlynn, PhD, Annals of Internal Medicine, May 2010
- Physician Office vs Retail Clinic: Patient Preferences in Care Seeking for Minor Illnesses, Annals of Family Medicine, 3-10-10
- The Impact of Comparative Effectiveness Research on Health and Health Care Spending, Tomas J. Philipson and Anirban Basu, American Enterprise Institute, 3-2-10
- Censored Quantile Instrumental Variable Estimates of the Price Elasticity of Expenditure on Medical Care, National Bureau of Economic Research, June 2009
- The Value of Life and the Rise in Health Spending, Robert E. Hall & Charles I. Jones, Quarterly Journal of Economics
- Rationing Care: Oregon Changes Its Priorities, Linda Gorman, National Center for Policy Analysis, 2-19-09
- "Evidence-Based Medicine": Rationing Care, Hurting Patients, American Legislative Exchange Council, December 2008
- Alive and Working: How Access to New Drugs has Slowed the Growth in America's Disability Rates, Frank R. Lichtenberg, Manhattan Institute, 10-28-08
News
- AARP Says Brand-Name Drug Prices Up 8% in 2009, New York Times, 8-25-10
- Health plans' huge earnings spark fallout from politicians, American Medical News, 8-16-10
- Consumer groups press HHS to probe insurance company spending trends, The Hill's "Healthwatch," 8-13-10
- Examining the Epocrates survey of PCP trends and attitudes, FiercePracticeManagement, 8-11-10
- Medical errors: Pressure ulcers and postop infections top $19.5 billion list, FierceHealthFinance, 8-12-10
- Omnicare Profit Tumbles by 60%, Wall Street Journal, 8-6-10
- A Simple Health-Care Fix Fizzles Out, Wall Street Journal, 2-11-10
- Health bills would shift Medicare money to Mayo and other 'high-value' hospitals, Washington Post, 1-6-10
- Drugmakers fight plan to allow imports, Washington Post, 12-15-09
- New Snapshots Show States Vary Widely In Providing Quality Health Care, USA, Medical News Today, 6-28-09
- Push to Compare Treatments Worries Drug, Device Makers, Wall Street Journal, 4-16-09
- Prostate Cancer Screening Found to Save Few, if Any, Lives, New York Times, 3-18-09
- Drug Firms Bet Big on High-Risk Deals, Wall Street Journal, 3-17-09
- Biotech Dip: Sector Weakness, or Buying Opportunity, Seeking Alpha, 3-12-09
- Health spending takes rising share of U.S. economy, Reuters, 2-24-09
- Health care costs to top $8,000 per person, Yahoo News, 2-24-09
- Measles in U.S. at Highest Level Since 2001, New York Times, 5-2-08
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