As 46 states begin their fiscal year this month, health care will prove to be one of the most costly expenditures. Medicaid spending alone is predicted to reach $320 billion this year. These dramatically rising health care costs should force state policymakers to lay the groundwork for meaningful and lasting reform according to health care expert John R. Graham, director of health care studies at the Pacific Research Institute and editor of the new book, What States Can Do to Reform Health Care: A Free Market Primer.
Health care in this country is a mess, but when it came to making reforms during Health Week, lawmakers in the Senate and the House achieved only gridlock. Some of the best bills wound up dead, or severely wounded. Necessary measures include medical malpractice reform, access to health insurance across state lines, fewer restrictions on health savings accounts, and increased technology in health care.
