Greg Mankiw linked to this op-ed by Jagdish Bhagwati and Sandip Madan. Bhagwati is one of the leading globalization economists, so it shouldn’t surprise us that Bhagwati/Madan see opportunities to improve the US health care system by exploiting the gobal market in services and medical staff. Four modes of global-interface are considered:
Mode 1 refers to “arm’s length” services that are typically found online: The provider and the user of services do not have to be in physical proximity. Mode 2 relates to patients going to doctors elsewhere. Mode 3 refers mainly to creating and staffing hospitals in other countries. Mode 4 encompasses doctors and other medical personnel going to where the patients are. All modes promise varying, and substantial, cost savings.
The authors close with one obvious point:
This is what the Great Society program did in the 1960s, with imports of doctors whose visas tied them, for specific periods, to serving remote, rural areas. U.S.-trained physicians practicing for a specified period in an “underserved” area were not required to return home.
It is time to expand such programs – for instance, by making physicians trained at accredited foreign institutions eligible for such entry into the U.S. But in order to do this, both Democratic candidates will first need to abandon their party’s antipathy to foreign trade.
Very interesting — read and see what you think…
0 Responses to “How to reduce health care costs”