Peter Orszag testified before the Senate Finance Committee today on health care reform. The testimony, and his associated slides, can be downloaded here. You won't get a much better introduction to the health policy thinking of the country's most powerful health policy wonk. I'd just add that since coming into the administration, Orszag's slides seem to have developed a more significant section on expanding coverage. Not that it was absent while he was at CBO, but it was less of a focus. His approach to coverage, however, shares much with his approach to cost. Just as When he talks costs, Orszag emphasizes that a thriftier system could also improve quality by ensuring that better evidence informs treatment decisions. Cost cutting doesn't have to hurt, in other words. Similarly, when he talks coverage, Orszag emphasizes how expanded coverage could improve care and ensure we get more for each dollar, like in this graph, which shows how expanding coverage could focus our spending on the prevention of breast and colon cancer rather than the treatment of it.
For Orszag, it's all about value. His initiatives might not all decrease spending in the short-term, but they will all increase value. Increased evidence can increase value by focusing the system on needed care and cutting waste. Expanding coverage can increase value by ensuring regular, preventive contact with the primary care system. Value, value, value.
For Orszag, it's all about value. His initiatives might not all decrease spending in the short-term, but they will all increase value. Increased evidence can increase value by focusing the system on needed care and cutting waste. Expanding coverage can increase value by ensuring regular, preventive contact with the primary care system. Value, value, value. 
