NYTs - Forbidden Topic in Health Care Policy: Cost-Effectiveness

Aaron Carroll, MD, a pediatrician, health services researcher and prominent blogger (at The Incidental Economist) has an article in the New York Times that addresses head-on the taboo against research on health care cost effectiveness. While some claim that a focus on cost will lead to rationing and death panels, the harsh truth is that the US health care industry has leveraged this perspective to advantage, which is why our per capita health care costs are double those of other developed nations. Dr. Carroll writes a strongly sensible argument on why cost effectiveness matters and needs to be a core part of any funding plan.