Health Affairs

Health Affairs, 25, no. 6 (2006): w540-w543 (Published online 24 October 2006) doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.25.w540 © 2006 by Project HOPE	New Online   Getting Health Reform Done   After the State of the Union   Incremental Reform   E-Health in Developing World   Most-Read Articles in 2009

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PERSPECTIVE

What Is Consumer-Directed Health Care?

John C. Goodman

To control health care costs, someone must choose between health care and other uses of money. The value of most health care is experienced subjectively, as is the value of other goods and services. No one is in a better position to make these subjective trade-offs than patients themselves. The current system not only systematically denies patients the opportunity to make such choices, it distorts the incentives of providers in the process. Chronic patients in particular would be much better off if they could manage more of their own health care dollars and if providers were free to compete to meet their needs.

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