Comments on: David Leonhardt Gets It Wrong http://healthblog.ncpa.org/david-leonhardt-gets-it-wrong/ Health Care Policy and Reform Insights | NCPA Tue, 22 May 2012 20:53:53 +0000 hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.3.2 By: Ken http://healthblog.ncpa.org/david-leonhardt-gets-it-wrong/comment-page-1/#comment-51351 Ken Tue, 05 Jan 2010 14:36:57 +0000 http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/?p=8092#comment-51351 This is not the first time Leonhardt has gotten it wrong. This is not the first time Leonhardt has gotten it wrong.

]]> By: Tom H. http://healthblog.ncpa.org/david-leonhardt-gets-it-wrong/comment-page-1/#comment-51348 Tom H. Tue, 05 Jan 2010 13:58:01 +0000 http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/?p=8092#comment-51348 Like so many people who seem to know something about economics in general, Leonhardt knows nothing about health economics. Like so many people who seem to know something about economics in general, Leonhardt knows nothing about health economics.

]]> By: John R. Graham http://healthblog.ncpa.org/david-leonhardt-gets-it-wrong/comment-page-1/#comment-51337 John R. Graham Tue, 05 Jan 2010 00:59:13 +0000 http://www.john-goodman-blog.com/?p=8092#comment-51337 Mr. Leonhardt asserts that Americans believe that "more is better" in health care, but tempers his (widely accepted) remark by pointing out that patients pay very little marginal cost of the next unit of treatment directly. He kind of throws that in as a minor factor, but it is the number-one factor. There's no area of life where people naturally believe that "more is better". Is a 400 page book better than a 300 page book? Is a high-calorie meal better than a low-calorie meal? Is a Boeing Dreamliner better than a Cessna? Nobody would asserts the superiority of "more" on its own. In this article, Mr. Leonhardt is describing Certificate of Need (CON)regulations, whereby the government decides if a new health facility can open. He praises CON for reducing the supply of health services in Virginia. However, he also praises the Cleveland Clinic, which is in Ohio where the burden of CON is trivial; and it's non-existent in Minnesota, home of the Mayo Clinic (http://tinyurl.com/nnssmt). We are suffering a housing crisis, whereby too many people demanded "more" housing that they could not afford. Would Mr. Leonhardt assert that this crisis could be averted by the government deciding whether or not new houses could be built? Mr. Leonhardt asserts that Americans believe that “more is better” in health care, but tempers his (widely accepted) remark by pointing out that patients pay very little marginal cost of the next unit of treatment directly. He kind of throws that in as a minor factor, but it is the number-one factor.

There’s no area of life where people naturally believe that “more is better”. Is a 400 page book better than a 300 page book? Is a high-calorie meal better than a low-calorie meal? Is a Boeing Dreamliner better than a Cessna?

Nobody would asserts the superiority of “more” on its own.

In this article, Mr. Leonhardt is describing Certificate of Need (CON)regulations, whereby the government decides if a new health facility can open. He praises CON for reducing the supply of health services in Virginia. However, he also praises the Cleveland Clinic, which is in Ohio where the burden of CON is trivial; and it’s non-existent in Minnesota, home of the Mayo Clinic (http://tinyurl.com/nnssmt).

We are suffering a housing crisis, whereby too many people demanded “more” housing that they could not afford. Would Mr. Leonhardt assert that this crisis could be averted by the government deciding whether or not new houses could be built?

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