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Four Proposals for Market-Based Health Care System Reform
Walton Sumner II, MD
Arch Fam Med. 1994;3(8):660-664.
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MOST proposals for health care system reform focus on access, funding mechanisms, and cost containment.1,2 Some believe that free-market mechanisms cannot improve health care or contain costs,3 while others argue that a free modern health care market has never existed.4 Some believe that health care is a social good, making market mechanisms inappropriate.3 Others observe that expenditures are often discretionary, benefits are uncertain and variable, low-cost alternatives often exist, rewards drive innovation, and coverage of expensive illnesses is unfair if lower profile, but more effective, programs must be curtailed as a result.5,6
Some principles underlying efficient competitive markets include ready public access to product and pricing information, freedom to purchase from any supplier, consumer choice between alternative uses for their resources, and ease of entry of new suppliers. Some suggestions to improve the health care market include creating a market-place of health care plans from
. . . [Full Text PDF of this Article]
Author Affiliations
University of Kentucky Lexington
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