Health system framework, patterns make change from within unlikely

The New York Times talks to Victor Fuchs, emeritus professor of economics and health research and policy at Stanford University, about the cost control challenges presented by the health system. Meanwhile, the National Journal reports on how individual health care choices also help drive costs.

The New York Times: Knotty Challenges In Health Care Costs
Dr. Fuchs, who has been called the dean of American health care economists, has spent five decades studying the health care problem. In his view, what is needed is the sort of major change that comes once in a decade, perhaps, or even just once in a generation. But change, he believes, will not bubble up from within the health care system itself (Kolata, 3/5).

National Journal: People Like Expensive Health Care, Study Finds
Here's an unusual factor that could be helping to drive up U.S. health care costs: If people get a choice, they'll often go for the priciest option, researchers reported on Monday. Patients tend to equate cost with quality, Judith Hibbard of the University of Oregon and colleagues report in the journal Health Affairs -- something that retailers know all too well but that may not have been taken into account in health care reform efforts (Fox, 3/6).

In other news, a political analyist predicts "extreme uncertainty" for the health care industry.

Modern Healthcare: 'Extreme Uncertainty' Ahead: Analyst
The healthcare industry is facing a period of "extreme uncertainty and volatility," said CNN senior political analyst David Gergen, who offered some predictions to healthcare executives closely watching the political landscape. Gergen headlined day two of the Federation of American Hospitals' annual public policy conference in Washington, noting that the industry is facing a growing demand for accountability and "relentless" cost pressure (Kutscher, 3/5).