Economist Paul Krugman describes health care reform as a 'Grand Bargain', "coverage for (almost) everyone, tied to an effort to ensure that health care dollars are well spent."
He continues that well respected economists "are seriously impressed by the cost-control measures in the Senate bill, which include efforts to improve incentives for cost-effective care, the use of medical research to guide doctors toward treatments that actually work, and more ... 'the best effort anyone has made'...”
If Krugman senses a bargain, he's no horse trader. While economists may be 'seriously impressed', physicians (Gawande, Jauhar) know that meaningful and sustainable cost containment can result only from innovation - physician driven, physician centered innovation.
The 'medicare commission' is inadequate for the task and the current antitrust environment presents a hurdle barely addressed in the proposed legislation.
Max Baucus is apparently Master of the Grand Bargain.
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