AN END TO THE 'MEDICAL ARMS RACE' IN MASSACHUSETTS

摘要

Republicans havepledged to roll back health-care reform in the name of fiscal re-straint. But the cost of implementing the new law remains unclear, largely because of the human equation. Universal insurance will lower the cost of care for millions of people. That could drive demand to the priciest treatments, regardless of their effectiveness, and set off what researchers call "a medical arms race" in which hospitals woo patients who care less about cost. Because hospitals account for more than a third of total health-care spending, such a spike could drive up costs across the board, including insurance premiums and government subsidies. That, at least, is the worry.