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By John C. Goodman , 2012. Oakland, CA:Independent Institute, Pp. 392. $24.95, hardcover,
ISBN: 978-1-59813-083-6
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Priceless is an essential read for people interested in health policy, even those with limited exposure to economics. Its author, John C. Goodman, carefully explains why the solutions proposed by conventional health policy analysts generally create perverse economic incentives, trapping all participants in a dysfunctional system that exacerbates U.S. health-care problems. Readers who wish to understand the Affordable Care Act (Obama Care), as well as Paul Ryan's ideas and other reform proposals, will be rewarded for spending time with the book and for giving serious consideration to the alternatives that Dr. Goodman presents. They may also find it handy for its extensive references.
Conventional health policy implicitly argues that U.S. health-care problems arise because patients and physicians have too much freedom. Physicians have too much freedom to prescribe treatments not in accord with clinical guidelines, and patients have too much freedom to choose expensive specialists and procedures. The conventional solution calls for limits on individual choice, typically by giving an employer or government agency control over many aspects of medical practice, including limits on the treatments that individual patients may access without centralized permission, limits on what practitioners patients may see, and limits on the amount and form of payment.
In contrast, Goodman argues that U.S. health-care problems arise because there is too little freedom from the perverse incentives that encourage actions that raise the price of care, lower its quality, and make access to it more difficult.
As third-party...