The Battle Over Health Care

January 23, 2012
Health care expert Gibson and World Bank economist Singh (coauthors of Wall of Silence) present a well-argued view that the heralded Obama health care reforms may be adverse to the public interest, since by “plowing even more funding into health care, the reform law cements inefficiency in the system.” The reforms increase insurers’ market share, giving them access to 16 million new customers beginning in 2014, but proposed subsidies for individual insurance policies simply foster greater demand, enabling continuing cost increases. By 2030, the authors estimate that health care will consume 25 percent of the country’s income, and comprehensive insurance will be unaffordable, even with subsidies. In passionate language, they prescribe possible remedies, but many are the usual suspects, for example, tackling fraud in health care spending. Meanwhile, the prognosis that the baby boomers will overwhelm Medicare might induce the despairing reader to take two aspirins. But don’t call the doctor in the morning; “a conservative estimate is that 225,000 people die every year from preventable harm in the health care system.” As one observer says: “‘They harm you and they bill you for it.’”

April 1, 2012

Health-care expert Gibson and World Bank economist Singh (coauthors, Wall of Silence: The Untold Story of the Medical Mistakes That Kill and Injure Millions of Americans) have produced a timely, cogent analysis of the high-stakes debate over health-care reform legislation. Veterans of conservative think tank the American Enterprise Institute, the authors parse critical policy concerns in this well-reasoned five-part book. Part 1 addresses the expedient political deals made by the Obama administration and the health-care industry that resulted in a significantly compromised version of the legislation. Part 2 cautions that the current health-care system cannot accommodate the increase in newly insured patients. In Part 3, the authors analogize the collapse of the banking industry and the imminent collapse of the health-care industry, both fueled by dangerous bubbles. Part 4 ties economic security to health-care security, while Part 5 asserts that, like its finance counterpart, the health-care industry privatizes gains and socializes losses. Finally, the authors advocate "careful pruning of the enormous inefficiency and waste in health care." VERDICT A provocative, informative book directed toward a general audience, but especially policymakers and health-care professionals. It's certain to appeal to readers of such books as Paul Starr's Remedy and Reaction: The Peculiar American Struggle Over Health Care Reform.--Lynne F. Maxwell, Villanova Univ. Sch. of Law Lib., PA

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