Reforming care too

Many have been writing and saying that the reform efforts thus far have not focused enough on changing how care is provided and have only focused on expanding insurance coverage. This is a good source to get a sense of what some of the details might look like if we get to a conference bill stage (after House and Senate pass something). This is from the Center for American Progress, which is closely linked with the Obama administration.

One issue that will bedevil Democrats and Republicans is that the CBO is being quite conservative about 'scoring' savings from things like Health Info Technology, and the like. They make the case in this report that such approaches will save money.

Also, Melinda Beeuwkes Buntin, who authored the linked report, and who is an Economist at RAND is doing some very interesting work with her colleagues at RAND looking the relative impact of lifestyle factors versus increasing intensity of medical treatments. This is not ready for dissemination yet, but I saw them present at a recent meeting and it was very enlightening. I will writing about this topic in the News and Observer in the next few weeks.