Power to the patient
By Scott W. Atlas, M.D.

Published September 8, 2004

Excerpt:

"Health care is a top domestic issue in this year's presidential campaign. No
wonder. No one is happy with the current system.

Patients and doctors view it as bloated, unnecessarily complex, restrictive and
increasingly costly. Employers view rising costs as a major deterrent to
expanding their job pool.

The question is how to best remedy the problem. There are two competing
approaches advanced in the presidential debate. Only one, I believe, represents
a cure.

There has been a serious misdiagnosis of the problem of rising costs. Advanced
medical technologies often are blamed, but that is not correct. The main problem
is our third-party payer system.

The absence of direct payment from patient to doctor for most medical expenses
has shielded Americans from considerations of cost. It has imparted the illusion
"someone else is paying" and fosters the idea patients are entitled to all
medical care, regardless of cost. That is a costly illusion. It is also the
heart of our problem.

Consideration of price is an essential component of a free-market economy, and
health care is no exception. Third-parties now pay an unprecedented 85 percent
of health-care costs. This encourages patients to neglect cost and overspend.

How do major party candidates say they'll fix the problem?"

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