Before coming to PGPF, Gene Steuerle served as Senior Fellow of the Urban Institute, co-director of its Tax Policy Center, Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Tax Analysis, President of the National Tax Association, and chair of the 1999 Technical Panel advising Social Security on its methods and assumptions. Gene serves or has served on advisory panels or boards for the Congressional Budget Committee, the Government Accountability Office, the Joint Committee on Taxation, and the National Committee on Vital and Health Statistics, to name a few.
At a recent Washington summit on health care costs hosted by the Peter G. Peterson Foundation, an array of experts grappled with the disconnect between what health care actually costs and what people think it costs. As a follow-up, I recently wrote a short piece about the psychology of health reform in which I suggested that reform is both driven and constrained by our mutual need—as voters or politicians—to feel good about health reform. We want to feel that we are doing something for others. Yet when the growth rate in the government’s health budget is unsustainable, somebody, somewhere is eventually going to… Read more
Comparative effectiveness research. Of course. But no research or improved information system is going to take away the human responsibility to decide what to provide and what to pay on the basis of at least some qualitative judgment. And if no one is empowered to make use of the improved information to increase effectiveness, even in an imperfect and uncertain world, then CER is not going to get at some of the cost drivers that are pushing more and more people out of private health insurance.… Read more
Think of our health care system as suffering from obesity. The best cure for obesity is a combination of exercise and diet; one without the other is inadequate. The exercises needed for health reform include all of the improved efficiencies that we hope to gain through new information systems and organizational methods: electronic health records, comparative effectiveness studies, medical homes, and so on. Like gym memberships, these efforts often start off by initially costing money. These are the types of reform to which government officials have given much attention lately. For the most part, however, all government health programs, but… Read more
MONEY, YES… BUT A WHOLE LOT MORE Until recently, I had the honor of serving for several years with one of the most dedicated groups of individuals I’ve ever known—the National Committee for Vital and Health Statistics (NCVHS), which is dedicated to clearing the way for a health information system for the future, including electronic health records. The Committee saw and dreamed of endless possibilities and opportunities. Patients could access their records when they moved. Back-up systems would be in place in case of a disaster such as a hurricane. Duplication of services could be avoided, and drug and treatment interactions better… Read more
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