Robert Sarvis on Health Care

Focus on catastrophic insurance & cash subsidies

1. Focus on catastrophic, not comprehensive, insurance/care. Comprehensive insurance programs are ridiculously expensive, but the benefits in health outcomes do not justify the cost. The most salient benefit is protection from financially ruinous catastrophic health problems, which can be provided at much lower cost by catastrophic insurance.
2. Focus public spending on mental-health care. Studies suggest high returns on public spending on mental health.
3. Focus on cash subsidies. Rather than having bureaucrats decide what services should be available and at what cost, providing cash subsidies gives patients greater flexibility to meet their individualized health-care needs and restores market incentives to keep costs down and to innovate in the provision of services.