Professor Stephen M. Davidson Writes about Health Care and the Supreme Court
Boston University School of Management’s Stephen M. Davidson, professor in the Markets, Public Policy & Law Department, argues in the New York Times that the U.S. health reform law should be upheld by the Supreme Court. Davidson, author of the recent book Still Broken: Understanding the U.S. Health Care System, is a widely-cited expert on health reform.
In his letter to the Times, which was featured as the centerpiece of their Sunday Dialogue opinion section on November 19, 2011, Davidson writes:
“As expected, the Supreme Court has agreed to decide the constitutionality of the new health care reform law… Rejecting ‘slippery slope’ diversions (“If the government can ‘mandate’ that everyone buy insurance, why can’t it also require that we eat broccoli?”), the court should focus on the powerful argument that the new law represents a reasonable approach to serving the national interest….
“As a country, we spend far more on health care than other countries — even though about 50 million Americans are uninsured — yet our health statistics are worse than most other industrialized countries and our citizens are less satisfied with our system than those from other countries are with theirs.
“Surely it is in the national interest that our population is healthy and that we compete successfully with those countries whose health care systems are less expensive but more effective than ours.
“The new law may not be ideal, but it is a rational attempt to achieve important goals. It will not only reduce the number of uninsured and increase access in the short run, but also create conditions that facilitate the long-term process of reforming the delivery system. And, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates, it would produce savings over 10 years. “
See the full letter online, along with various responses by academics, health care professionals, and general readers.
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