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The Goodman Institute Health Blog

Saturday Links

Posted on October 21, 2023October 20, 2023 by John C. Goodman

Arthur Laffer: requiring health care providers to post prices for their medical services could save more than $500 billion a year.

A disappointing discovery: Jim Jordan was willing to Jordan increase the $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions – benefiting wealthy taxpayers in blue states – in order to get votes for the speakership.

Study: repealing Certificate of Need laws leads to more hospitals in urban and rural areas.

$233 million: what blue states receive that they wouldn’t receive if federal grants reflected these state’s population losses.

4 thoughts on “Saturday Links”

  1. Bob Hertz says:
    October 21, 2023 at 4:13 pm

    Thanks for posting the Arthur Laffer article on price transparency. The article probed into a very important area.

    I would note, however, that the three largest instances of cost savings had nothing to do with individual patient-consumers. I have followed the Montana employer plans and the Rosen plans in detail, and their savings came from employers asserting themselves. Individual patient choices were not involved.

    Also, the table of price variations in Los Angeles was not too helpful. One hospital may have a $6,000 rack rate but offer a 60% discount to large insurers. Another hospital may have a $5,000 rack rate but offer a 50% discount. Ultimately the price is about the same.

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  2. Bart Ingles says:
    October 21, 2023 at 11:52 pm

    I believe the $10K SALT deduction limit is scheduled to expire at the end of 2025 anyway, and I don’t see much prospect for renewal in a divided Congress. We’ll be lucky if we have a House speaker by then.

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  3. Bob Hertz says:
    October 23, 2023 at 5:45 am

    A study was done in 2014 covering a large group of Calpers patients and price transparency.
    One batch of patients was given price transparency tools, and another batch was not.

    The results after two years was that spending on lab tests and office visits went down slightly for the group that had disclosed prices. Overall spending did not go down very much however.

    This is completely consistent with my own lived experience. For serious and expensive care, I am going to go to a doctor that I trust.

    In theory a pregnant couple could shop around for the best hospital prices. Do they really do so?

    I like the idea of price transparency, but Dr. Laffer makes claims for it that I do not think are justified.

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    1. John Fembup says:
      October 24, 2023 at 11:10 am

      ”Dr. Laffer makes claims for it that I do not think are justified”

      Please elaborate. Why not? 😎

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