Health Affairs paper evaluates reform proposals, predicts action only in face of crisis

A paper on Health Care Reform: Why? What? When? co-authored by CHP/PCOR core faculty member Victor R. Fuchs along with Ezekiel Emanuel, appears in the November/December issue of Health Affairs, a theme issue titled "Rethinking Health Reform." In their paper, Fuchs and Emanuel discuss why the United States needs health care reform, what kind of reform should be undertaken - incremental or comprehensive - and the conditions under which reforms can be expected to be implemented. The authors evaluate several proposals for incremental reform - including employer mandates, quality incentives and health savings accounts - and three proposals for comprehensive reform: individual mandates with subsidies; a single payer system; and Fuchs' and Emanuel's own universal health care vouchers proposal.