Does the legislation before Congress reform the healthcare system, or merely expand it?
The overhaul of our country’s healthcare system has two broad objectives: to provide for the health security of all Americans and to reduce the growth in national health spending to sustainable levels. It has become a common complaint that the legislation currently under consideration by Congress neglects to seriously confront the crisis of healthcare costs—and thus fails to meet the second objective—even if it makes significant headway on the first objective by expanding insurance coverage. I am more inclined to view the current legislative efforts as a necessary first phase in the pursuit of both of these complementary, intertwined goals. Photo by stephanebenito. But I also think that both the House bill (H.R. 3692) and the Senate bill (H.R. 3590) take appropriate and significant strides towards reform of the fee-for-service payment system widely considered responsible for the disproportionate inflation in the healthcare economy. The health-security phase of reform is largely about i
