BMJ Article Discusses Implications of Presidential Nominees’ Health Care Proposals

"U.S. Health Care: Health and the U.S. Presidential Campaigns," BMJ: In the article, Barbara Markham Smith, a consultant to Health Management Associates, discusses the implications of the health care proposals of presidential nominees Sens. John McCain (R-Ariz.) and Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Markham Smith writes, "At the heart of the differences between the plans are different views of what drives health system costs." She says McCain's plan "reflects the belief that aggregate individual choices drive health spending" and "focuses on shifting costs to individuals as a hammer to drive down demand for health services and limit benefits." Obama's plan "reflects a view that individuals have little control over total health system costs and that large market forces must be harnessed to bring down costs and improve access," according to Markham Smith (Markham Smith, BMJ, 9/23).