By Scott Atlas, Hoover Institution Press, March 2005

The debate rages on over how to cope with the rising costs of medical care—proposed solutions range from a single payer system with a broad government control to loosely defined market-driven plans. The authors look at three key elements of health care costs and offer thoughtful, realistic suggestions to help stem the tide of rising expenses for everyone.

When calculated on a per capita basis, the United States has the costliest health care system in the world. The debate rages on over how to cope with the rising costs of medical care, with proposed solutions ranging from a single-payer system with broad government control to loosely defined market-driven plans. Power to the Patient: Selected Health Care Issues and Policy Solutions looks at three key elements of health care costs and offers thoughtful, realistic suggestions to help stem the tide of rising expenses for everyone. Scott W. Atlas proposes changing the nature of health care insurance so that patients make direct payments to their health care providers. Daniel P. Kessler reviews the current debate over the medical liability system, examining several different areas of proposed reforms. Mark V. Pauly looks at why real medical spending has increased and concludes that it is virtually impossible to lower costs without lowering quality of care.

Download Full-text PDF versions of each chapter:

Book Contents (Chapters in PDFs):

• Contributors
• Preface
• Acknowledgments
• Chapter 1: Power to the Patient: The Right Choice to Control Health Care Costs
• Chapter 2: The Medical Liability System: Current Debates
• Chapter 3: The Realities of the Growth in Medical Spending
• Index

From the Publisher

How can we begin to control the rising costs of medical care?

When calculated on a per capita basis, the United States has the costliest health care system in the world. The debate rages on over how to cope with the rising costs of medical care, with proposed solutions ranging from a single-payer system with broad government control to loosely defined market-driven plans. This book looks at three key elements of health care costs—third-party payment, the realities of growth in medical spending, and the medical liability system—and offers thoughtful, realistic suggestions to help stem the tide of rising expenses for everyone.

Scott W. Atlas proposes changing the nature of health care insurance so that patients make direct payments to their health care providers. The critical focus, he says, should be on empowering the patient by putting consumers in charge of their money and letting them make cost-conscious decisions about spending health care dollars. Daniel P. Kessler reviews the current debate over the medical liability system, examining three areas of proposed reforms: limits on liability, "patients’ bill of rights" proposals, and alternative reforms such as medical practice guidelines, dispute resolution, and no-fault insurance. Mark V. Pauly looks at the reasons real medical spending has increased and concludes that it is virtually impossible to lower costs without lowering quality of care.

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