Kling, a determined advocate of consumer-driven medicine, writes:
Right now, no one has good information on the cost-effectiveness of medical protocols. Consumers don't have it, doctors don't have it, and government bureaucrats do not have it.
In Crisis of Abundance, I argue for a national commission to study the cost-effectiveness of medical protocols. I think that government has a valid role in producing and disseminating this information.
Absent good information on cost-effectiveness, government health care decisions will have no more rational basis than decisions made by consumers. Only when the information has been produced and disseminated can one have a debate about whether consumers are less capable than government when it comes to making health care decisions.
That's quite true. Now, I know where Kling falls on that debate, and I know where I fall on that debate, and I think we should probably both define our terms a bit better (he thinks the way to make consumers smarter is to make them pay a lot more out of pocket, I don't), but the lack of solid medical information is staggering and horrifying. It kills far more people every year than did 9/11, and yet receives next to no attention or policy energy.
