Harvard Medical Dean: Health ‘Reform’ Gets a Failing Grade

Jeffrey S. Flier write at the Wall Street Journal: “As the dean of Harvard Medical School I am frequently asked to comment on the health-reform debate. I’d give it a failing grade . . . Speeches and news reports can lead you to believe that proposed congressional legislation would tackle the problems of cost, access and quality. But that’s not true. The various bills do deal with access by expanding Medicaid and mandating subsidized insurance at substantial cost—and thus addresses an important social goal. However, there are no provisions to substantively control the growth of costs or raise the quality of care. So the overall effort will fail to qualify as reform.”