My latest Kaiser Health News column is online today. It begins,
The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act continues the American tradition of privately provided, publicly subsidized health insurance. It’s how most Americans’ health insurance is financed today. But despite its advantages, there is a hidden cost to this arrangement: insurers have more information about health care coverage, spending and, utilization than the taxpayers that help fund them. The system’s opacity gives insurers the upper hand in debates over government payment rates.
Read the rest here.
