CoA Alert

May 17, 2006

CoA Alert

As long as I'm creating an alert for Bryan's book, I might as well create one for Crisis of Abundance, which is an essential resource for anyone interested in health care policy and, with birthdays and graduations coming up, makes a great gift.

In today's CoA alert, Joe Kristan, who is about to read the book, sets high expectations.

I will write down my current views of the U.S. healthcare system before I start. As I read I will try to note items that confirm or contradict my current opinions, and whether and how my views change...

I am perplexed by the rising cost of health insurance and health care, yet I am aware that the health care we get is better than it ever has been. I see several big, related issues...

Many smart people know a lot more about health economics than I do, and I'm sure Arnold Kling is one of them. I look forward to seeing what he has to say.

My views in CoA were influenced by the work of John Wennberg and his colleagues at Dartmouth. Recently, they struck again.

Staggering variations in how hospitals care for chronically ill elderly patients indicate serious problems with quality of care and point toward unnecessary spending by Medicare. Lower utilization of acute care hospitals and physician visits could actually lead to better results for patients and prolong the solvency of the Medicare program, according to a new study by the Center for the Evaluative Clinical Sciences (CECS) at Dartmouth Medical School.