NCPA White Paper: Everything You Think You Know About Health Care Is Wrong

This white paper from Linda Gorman and R. Allen Jensen at the National Center for Policy Analysis does a nice job of assessing some of the myths and stereotypes about the healthcare system in the U.S. 

If you are in the heatlhcare space, I will bet that you have heard (or even proclaimed) at least a few of these.  Consumers as well as "the Industry" both need more information, more review of that information by experts, and more visibility of it, to make good decisions about which solutions will ultimately reduce / flatten cost and increase / maintain standard of care.

All of these claims are refuted:

• People without health insurance have no access to care. 
• Insuring people will eliminate uncompensated care. 
• Health insurance is unaffordable for individuals.
• Medicare has lower admin costs than private insurers, whose costs are as much as 30 percent of revenue.
• Electronic Medical Records reduce cost and increase quality. 
• Evidence-based medicine reduces cost and increases quality.
• Care coordination and case management lower costs.
• Because the U.S. spends the most per capita on healthcare, it "spends too much."
• The U.S. spends more money and has poorer outcomes than health systems in other countries.
• More spending on the indigent will improve health outcomes.
• Integrated health care systems will lower costs.
• People are better off if their health insurance policies have lower deductibles and pay for routine care.
• The uninsured get their care at the emergency room, driving up costs for everyone.
• Centralizing administration will lower costs.
• Insurance company profits increase the cost of care.
• More peventative care for individuals will save money.

The authors prescribe three components for successful reform:

1. A vibrant and competitive free market for private health care, with wide choices for treatment and various ways to pay for them, and a wide choice of private health plans.
2. Consumer-directed health care initiatives are superior to first-dollar coverage, especially under insurance programs designed and controlled by government.
3. A review of government control of medical practices is needed to substantially reform government programs, introduce incentives that eliminate waste, and reduce costly and unneeded administrative and regulatory burdens.

An interesting read with solid analysis behind it.  [State Health Care Reform:  Key Questions and Answers via NCPA]