Insurance and Payment for Health Care
By Harold Luft
Summary: This paper discusses how coverage pays for care and how patients are engaged in the cost implications of their treatment, showing that those factors are critical in any effort to reform the U.S. health care system. According to the author, the current health care model results in over-use of the health care system for minor health problems and overly burdensome costs for those with chronic conditions. Additionally, most health-care utilization and expenditure is concentrated among a small percentage of the population. This paper concludes that more efficient health care can be accomplished by creating a universal insurance pool, changing from the current fee-for-service model to one centered on episodes of care, and eliminating insurance coverage for minor injuries.
Key Concepts: health care administrative structure, health care delivery systems, managing health care inflation
Read Insurance and Payment for Health Care (pdf).
See also: Tables (pdf).