Health Affairs, 26, no. 6 (2007): 1542-1544 doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.26.6.1542 © 2007 by Project HOPE	New Online   Pay Cuts For Medicare Docs   Access To Care Woes   Public Coverage More Efficient   Empowering Consumers

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Perspectives

PERSPECTIVE

What Are The Prospects For Enduring Comprehensive Health Care Reform?

Enduring reform must cover the uninsured, reduce inefficiency in funding and delivery of care, improve quality, and tame but not destroy the development of new medical technologies. Obstacles to reform include "special interests," especially as they exploit the U.S. political system; Machiavelli’s Law of Reform, which favors the status quo; and the inability of reformers to agree on a common approach. Short-term prospects for enduring comprehensive reform are virtually nil. Over five to ten years, prospects are fifty-fifty unless there were a major economic, political, social, or public health crisis. In the long run, major reform is inevitable.

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