Well-known health economist Victor Fuchs, PhD, has been keeping a close eye on national healthcare reform efforts, and he has some concerns about the recent call for a government health insurance company. He writes in the most recent issue of the New England Journal of Medicine:
The three major problems of the current U.S. system are that 45 million to 50 million people have no health insurance, the cost of care is high and rapidly increasing, and there are gross lapses in the quality of care. There is no reason to think that a government insurance company would make a significant dent in any one of these problems, let alone all three. To do that would require real reform in the financing, organization, and delivery of care.
The rest of Fuchs' thoughts can be read here.
