As I've said throughout this blog, the future of "fee-for-service" payment for healthcare lies in the crosshairs of reformers in Washington. It must be replaced because it puts too much incentive upon volume and not enough incentive upon the coordination of needed, high quality care under the control of the individual.
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (aka ObamaCare) has as its purpose to replace fee-for-service payment with new forms of capitation which some observers argue belies a long term intent to move to a single payer system nationwide.
Today's Wall Street Journal features an interesting op/ed piece about what has happen, in a quiet bipartisan manner behind the scenes, to Rep. Paul Ryan's "premium support" concept. The author compares Medicare today to a defined-benefit plan and Premium Support as a defined-contribution. Worth reading.
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