FAQ: How Would Cost-Benefit Analysis Be Used to Restrain Healthcare Costs? – The Case of an Expensive New Cholesterol Drug

Executive Summary Some experts say that cost-benefit analysis is the way to restrain soaring healthcare costs and reform the system. How exactly would cost-benefit analysis work? This blog argues: Forget the caviar. But keep costworthy care on the menu. To explain what this means, let’s look at the case of Repatha (evolocumab), the new cholesterol-lowering drug, … Continue reading FAQ: How Would Cost-Benefit Analysis Be Used to Restrain Healthcare Costs? – The Case of an Expensive New Cholesterol Drug →

FAQ: Could a Healthcare Reform Plan Designed for a Single State Work at a National Level?

Could an approach used 23 years ago by a single state, targeted only at its Medicaid program, be applied on a national scale for reforming the vast U.S. healthcare system? The answer is Yes. Oregon in 1994 decided to cut services instead of cutting patients in response to a Medicaid budget squeeze. The governor used … Continue reading FAQ: Could a Healthcare Reform Plan Designed for a Single State Work at a National Level? →

Private Sector, not Public Policy, Holds the Key to Healthcare Reform — Really?…

Christopher Helmrath, MBA “The Private Sector, not Public Policy, Holds the Key to Better Healthcare" featuring Christopher Helmrath MBA turned out to be as much an infomercial for his investment firm as a discussion of healthcare reform in America. I do not dispute Mr. Helmrath’s investment tip that healthcare is a “good bet.” And I … Continue reading Private Sector, not Public Policy, Holds the Key to Healthcare Reform — Really?… →

Navigating Payment Reform – NEJM Catalyst

Harvard Business School and New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst group convened a webinar on “Navigating Payment Reform for Providers, Payers & Pharma” on November 2. Presenters admirably fulfilled Dr. Dafny’s challenge as convener to be transparent about goals, attuned to new ideas, open to trade-offs, and unafraid of failure. From the perspective of General Systems … Continue reading Navigating Payment Reform – NEJM Catalyst →

Real Tax Reform: Cutting the Healthcare “Excise Tax”

Politicians in Washington have been wrangling over healthcare and tax cuts since January 2017 (really, since 2009). They got a couple of things right. First, they realized that health spending amounts to an 18% excise tax on all economic activity; that’s how much of GDP we currently spend on healthcare. And that’s where real “tax … Continue reading Real Tax Reform: Cutting the Healthcare “Excise Tax” →