Just call him irresponsible

By Liam Day
June 6th, 2008

I have argued on this blog before that there may be no more important public policy issue facing the country than the spiraling cost of health care; at its present rate of increase, it will simply render all other spending debates moot.

There may also be no issue more complex than health care. Which is why I think Jeffrey Krasner’s piece on the Coalition for Affordable Health Care in yesterday’s Globe was pretty irresponsible. The offending paragraph reads as follows:

[Harvard Pilgrim CEO Charles] Baker supports so-called consumer-driven healthcare, in which patients pay higher deductibles and copayments as an incentive for them not to go to the doctor too often or use other unnecessary medical services.

The use of “so-called” as a descriptor is loaded; it’s to imply that consumer-driven healthcare is called consumer-driven, but really isn’t. Coupled with a definition that focuses narrowly on one (albeit, at least to my mind, worrisome) aspect and the uninformed reader could only assume one thing: consumer-driven healthcare is a sham.

This was to be a report, not an op-ed.

Now, I’m not entirely sold on consumer-driven healthcare. It would be easy for me, at least easier than it would be for other people. I’m young, healthy, fairly well-off (though my wife might laugh to read it) and something of a policy geek. I would know where to go to get the right data to make informed medical decisions and would have the financial flexibility to pay a little bit more for doctor’s visits and procedures if I felt they were warranted. A single mother working two jobs to make ends meet might not have the same luxuries.

Still, some studies have shown that, when consumer-driven healthcare has been implemented, consumers have taken more and better preventative steps with their health and are more conscientious about taking prescriptions. (Gee. Wonder why?)

This simply goes to say, all options need to be on the table as we explore ways to contain costs. Irresponsible journalism only dumbs down the debate.