Looks like Paul Krugman’s op piece in today’s New York Times is already burning up the netwaves. Setting Krugman’s politics and controversies aside, I believe he hits the nail on the head in stating that patients are not consumers.
A timely topic for me personally as I received a medical bill this week that had me discussing/debating this with my wife. As a physician, I like to think that I have a little bit more insight than the layperson but as a patient myself, I fall into the very same trap that each and every other patient ultimately fall into in this country. 95% of the time, it is impossible to be an educated consumer in the healthcare marketplace.
I meant to write more, but I found this blogpost by Movin’ Meat via WSJ who does an eloquent job of stating the issues. So, ditto.
