Brookings Institution Press

Restoring fiscal sanity 2007; the health spending challenge.

The eight essays presented by Rivlin (economic studies, Brookings Institution) and Antos (health care and retirement policy, American Enterprise Institute) consider means of reducing health care spending in the United States, addressing both overall national health spending and the financing of health programs in the federal budget. Individual papers discuss increasing efficiency and changing commitments for Medicare and Medicaid. Others consider policy proposals, such as health information technology, disease prevention, malpractice reform, and pay-for-performance, that authors believe can be applied to reduce spending prior to comprehensive reform, including innovations in the Veterans Health Administration and the Military Health System. Also discussed are private player strategies to create patient financial incentives not to spend money, including higher co-payments, deductibles, and coinsurance. Finally, two papers address means of building political and public support for health spending reform. (Annotation ©2007 Book News Inc. Portland, OR)