Whats big-is-beautiful health care, and how does consumer-driven health care differ from it?
The status-quo wants to increasingly centralize its powers, through consolidation of hospitals and insurers and increased government micro- management of health-care delivery. They argue that big is beautiful, but the economies of scale and standardization of quality they promise has yet to materialize. Rather, the increased consolidation of hospitals has increased prices and even, at times, diminished quality. In contrast, consumer-driven health care decentralizes health-care and insurance-purchase decisions to us and gives us the money and information we need to make smart decisions about what we consider value for the money. The Swiss consumer-driven health-care system spends 40 percent less than the U.S., as a percentage of GDP, and achieves universal coverage and world-class quality results. Question #5: Aren’t nonprofit hospitals dedicated to public service? Some are-these safety-net hospitals serve the poor and uninsured. But all too many nonprofit hospitals have sacrificed thei
