Well-known health economist Victor Fuchs, PhD, always has interesting things to say about health care reform efforts (see here and here). Now he's shared more of his thoughts in this Q&A with Kaiser Health News' Laurie McGinley. The take-away message: he doesn't think we're close to implementing meaningful reform. As Laurie explains it:
Despite being a supporter of President Barack Obama, Dr. Fuchs suggests that the president and Congress are more interested in getting a reform proposal that can pass than getting a plan that will curb health costs over the long run.
And Dr. Fuchs later tells Laurie:
So unfortunately... I think [Obama] hasn't done the kind of long, hard work that needs to be done. I think it's going to take several years of hard education work... to come up with a really good reform plan.
