CBO studies are usually written in careful but rather dreamy language that advances pie-in-the-sky solutions.
In this case, we should look to the nations that have actually accomplished some level of price control.
The German method has historically had two key elements:
1. Providers and insurers meet each year to create a binding fee schedule that more or less stays on the overall budget.
2. If a particular service gets heavily utilized, thus threatening the budget, the price for that service can be lowered during the year.
My info on this is somewhat dated, coming mainly from Joseph White.
But it has a sophistication and hard-nosed realism, that is quite beyond the gentle ministrations of the CBO study cited here.
In America at this time, we could never get all hospitals, doctors, and insurers into a single bargaining session, and we could never impose lower prices to counter over-utilization.\
Of course Germany has had national health insurance for about 140 years, and it shows.
CBO studies are usually written in careful but rather dreamy language that advances pie-in-the-sky solutions.
In this case, we should look to the nations that have actually accomplished some level of price control.
The German method has historically had two key elements:
1. Providers and insurers meet each year to create a binding fee schedule that more or less stays on the overall budget.
2. If a particular service gets heavily utilized, thus threatening the budget, the price for that service can be lowered during the year.
My info on this is somewhat dated, coming mainly from Joseph White.
But it has a sophistication and hard-nosed realism, that is quite beyond the gentle ministrations of the CBO study cited here.
In America at this time, we could never get all hospitals, doctors, and insurers into a single bargaining session, and we could never impose lower prices to counter over-utilization.\
Of course Germany has had national health insurance for about 140 years, and it shows.