The Cato Institute Speakers Bureau
Speaker and Speeches:
|
|
Michael F. Cannon
Director of Health Policy Studies
Given the immense size and complexity of our health care system, and the special interests that swarm over nearly every aspect of it, how can changes – let alone genuine improvements – ever be made? The dimensions of the challenges posed by health care in our nation today – Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, spiraling and seemingly uncontrollable costs, quality issues, state and federal bureaucracies, and so much more – combine into a massive cluster of knots that defy loosening.
Unless, that is, you pull it apart into logical, clearly defined, imminently workable strands. That is precisely what Michael Cannon does. He provides well-reasoned, thoroughly practical, achievable solutions to some of the most pressing issues in health care today.
Some of Michael Cannon's most requested presentations include
Are Free Markets Healthy?
Americans have three big health care concerns. We want people to have access to expensive medical care when they need it. We don’t want the needy to go without medical care. And we want medical care to be of the highest quality possible. Cannon explains how markets tackle those problems, albeit imperfectly. He then shows how common government interventions that are intended to improve the functioning of markets usually have the opposite effect.
Medicaid’s Unseen Costs
Have you ever wondered why Medicaid, the government health care program for the poor, just keeps on growing? A significant body of research suggests that, as it exists today, Medicaid encourages Americans to become dependent on government; encourages Americans to behave in ways that increase the cost of government and of health care, making self-reliance more difficult for others; and encourages state officials to get more Americans to behave that way. Washington needs to apply the lessons of the successful 1996 welfare reforms to Medicaid, the largest anti-poverty program in the United States.
Pay-for-Performance in Medicare
Research consistently shows that the quality of care provided under the federal Medicare program is not what it could be. Medicare has begun experimenting with “pay-for-performance” incentives that reward for providers to delivering high-quality care. Yet pay-for-performance is still an unproven tool that could be dangerous in the hands of the Medicare bureaucracy. In particular, a Medicare-led effort could encourage inappropriate care or reduce access to care for patients with multiple illnesses or low incomes. Pay-for-performance should be tested by a competitive market process, such as private Medicare plans, rather than mandated from on high by the Medicare bureaucracy.
What’s Next for Health Savings Accounts?
Health savings accounts (HSAs) have the potential to revolutionize America’s health care sector – if Congress uses them as a platform to let consumers control all their health care dollars and decisions. Right now, HSAs are too hamstrung by one-size-fits-all restrictions. That reduces their appeal to Americans who prefer different types of health coverage. Expanded and enhanced HSAs can spur cost-saving innovations that benefit all patients.
Books by Michael F. Cannon
Full biography of Michael F. Cannon, including publications and media clips.