When politicians and bureaucrats talk about “cutting the cost of health care,” they often mean a very different thing than what you and I understand when we hear those words.

We usually think of reducing the cost to us — we hope less money will come out of our pockets for doctor visits, hospital stays, and prescription drugs. That is, we hope we will be better able to afford the health care that we need.

But when the bureaucrats say “cutting the cost of health care,” they mean cutting the cost to them — to government programs and insurance companies. And often they mean reducing expenditures on health care by society at large. This came out in a recent blog post by Julie Rovner at NPR’s health blog, “Shots.”

White House Defends Overhaul’s Cost-Cutting – Shots – Health News Blog : NPR

The economists said any health reform bill needs four major components to improve the nation’s “fiscal health.” Those ingredients are deficit neutrality, an excise tax on high-cost insurance plans, a Medicare Commission with more power to make payment recommendations to Congress, and quality-oriented changes to the nation’s system of doctors and hospitals that encourage better care rather more of it.

Two things bother me about this: first, our health care system is the best in the world. I wonder what kind of “quality-oriented changes” the bureaucrats and politicians have in mind. Will they really improve the best health care in the world? Can politicians meddle with a good thing and make it better?

Second, I note that their proposals seek to encourage “better care rather [than] more of it.” That must mean, of course, that our access to health care will be more restricted in the future. With the addition of tens of millions of people seeking a visit to the emergency room or doctor’s office for their minor ailments because “the government pays for it,” reduced expenditures on health care must mean long waiting lines, fewer surgeries, and more difficulty getting prescriptions filled.

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