THE ORGANIZATION FOR ECONOMIC COOPERATION AND DEVELOPMENT AND HEALTH CARE REFORM IN THE UNITED STATES

• Published in: International journal of health services Vol. 39; no. 4; pp. 699 - 704
• Main Author: McCanne, Don R.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Los Angeles, CA Baywood Publishing Company, Inc 01.01.2009; SAGE Publications
• Subjects: Consensus; Cost; Developed Countries; Economic cooperation; Economic development; Health care; Health Care Costs; Health Care Reform - methods; Health costs; Health expenditure; Health insurance; Health policy; Health services; Medical service; Obama, Barack; OECD Bias in Evaluating U.S. Health Care Reform; Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development; Policy Making; Politics; Reforms; Social policy; Suffering; U.S.A; United States; United States
• ISSN: 0020-7314; 1541-4469
• DOI: 10.2190/HS.39.4.f

Among OECD nations, the United States is an outlier in having the highest per capita health care costs in a system that unnecessarily exposes many individuals to financial hardship, physical suffering, and even death. President Obama and Congress are currently involved in a process to reform the flawed health care system. The OECD has contributed to that process by releasing a paper, "Health Care Reform in the United States," which describes some of the problems that must be addressed, but then provides proposed solutions that omit consideration of a more equitable and efficient universal public insurance program. The same omission is taking place in Washington, DC. By reinforcing proposals that support the private insurance industry, the source of much of the waste and inequities in health care, the authors of the OECD paper have failed in their responsibility to inform on policies rather than politics.