Aug 3 2012
Dueling articles in the New England Journal of Medicine Wednesday propose sharply different ways to curb medical spending. The proposals offer a glimpse of the rival approaches that could emerge in 2013, when Congress will have to tackle the budget deficit and the future of the Medicare program for the elderly and disabled.
Reuters: Democrats, Republicans Offer Rival Views To Control Health Costs
Democrats and Republicans agree that the next U.S. president will have to contend with rising health care costs that pose a growing, destabilizing burden for families, employers and government budgets. But two articles published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday show how far apart each side stands on the question of what to do, ahead of a November election showdown between President Barack Obama and presumptive Republican nominee Mitt Romney (Morgan, 8/1).
Kaiser Health News: Capsules: Experts Release Plan To Reduce Health Spending
The proposals include state spending targets; competitive bidding for medical devices, laboratory tests and other Medicare services; and a dramatic move away from the traditional way doctors and hospitals are paid (Appleby, 8/1).
Politico Pro: Advocates Unveil Cost Control Blueprint
A group of health experts, led by the left-leaning Center for American Progress, unveiled a slate of reforms Wednesday it says will reemphasize the "affordable" part of the ACA, in part by using a government hammer to move providers and insurers away from fee-for-service waste. Advocates for the new approach -- headlined by former CMS chief Don Berwick, former OMB Director Peter Orszag and Center for American Progress President Neera Tanden -- say their proposal represents "the next generation" of reforms intended to prevent health care costs from consuming a greater share of the national economy (Cheney, 8/1).
 This article was reprinted from kaiserhealthnews.org with permission from the Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Kaiser Health News, an editorially independent news service, is a program of the Kaiser Family Foundation, a nonpartisan health care policy research organization unaffiliated with Kaiser Permanente.
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