Medicare is prohibited by Congress from using its leverage to bargain for better prescription-drug prices or to use “comparative effectiveness” tests in approving drugs or procedures.
Trial lawyers are right that the impact of malpractice suits is exaggerated; Texas has enacted one of the toughest limits on them, and it hasn’t really driven down overall costs. In fact, the threat of litigation is often used as an excuse to perform profitable procedures. Still, something like the safe harbor standard could make some difference and eliminate a distracting argument.Medicare gets whacked a lot these days by politicians. Mr. Brill demonstrates that the program is more cost-effective than the private system. He says that rather than raising the eligibility age for benefits, lowering the age limit and allowing more people to qualify would decrease health-care costs.