MarriedMSTP

Hi Sarah,

Why do you think all payer rate setting hasn't gotten as much attention as other potential HC reforms? Especially since it can be done at the state level.

Second question: As a med student, I've been surprised at how cost of treatment to my patients simply is not a factor in treatment decisions. Physicians will often insist that a drug or test is absolutely necessary, when in fact it would be very harmful to take that drug if it meant you had to take on a 2nd job. My hospital told me that it is possible to display treatment costs in our EHR, but that studies have shown that such displays don't change what care is provided. What is the state of the literature on this question? My impression is that the work that has been done has mostly examined ER docs, but I would think the biggest impact would be made in clinic settings.

Thank you for all your work on these questions!

Why did they give it up? I've tried to look into this before and gotten nowhere.

Just want to second this question: Is there any work on how these negotiations occur? What does the process look like, how far into the prices of individual procedures do they go, etc.

Besides Medicaid expansion, what kinds of health care reforms can be done at the state/local level to reduce prices for patients? Are there any state legislators who are doing anything particularly exciting (besides the medicaid expansion/buy in plans that have sprouted up)?