government
Study advocates Canadian cost controls for Medicare
NEWS IN BRIEF — Posted Nov. 12, 2012
Federal lawmakers and Medicare officials should look north to Canada for policy to control spending in the U.S. national entitlement program for seniors, according to an Oct. 29 Archives of Internal Medicine study (link).
Care costs for the elderly have grown three times faster in the United States than in Canada, said study authors David Himmelstein, MD, and Steffi Woolhandler, MD, MPH. The authors are founders of Physicians for a National Health Program, which advocates for a single-payer system in the U.S.
Canada has controlled costs by allowing its national health program to leverage market power and negotiate lower prices for drugs and devices. A single-payer plan also reduces physician office overhead costs, because administrative staff works with just one payer, Dr. Woolhandler said.
“They also have a better malpractice and litigation climate,” she said. “It saves money because no one sues to cover future medical costs.”
The authors estimate that if the United States adopted similar measures it would have had a $32.3 billion surplus in its Medicare hospital trust fund in 2009 instead of a $17.1 billion deficit. Critics of the single-payer model have said that government price controls lead to care rationing and access problems for patients.
Note: This item originally appeared at http://www.ama-assn.org/amednews/2012/11/12/gvbf1112.htm.
