Silly Patient, Power Is for Experts!

Yesterday, I lamented that market critics simultaneously (1) argue that information asymmetries mean that patients are too ignorant to control their health care dollars and decisions, and (2) argue for policies that keep patients ignorant.

As if on cue, Ezra Klein pounced on the same hook I used: a column by David Wessel that cited a study showing that elderly patients are often highly satisfied with their care even when the technical quality is sub-par. Klein argues the study is proof that "consumer-directed health care is a silly idea." 

Or, perhaps, those findings show that the policies Klein supports (e.g., government-provided coverage) are keeping patients ignorant.

Klein writes, "patients have no capability to separate good medicine from bad...for all their good intentions, [they] are easily fooled by a firm handshake, a pleasant nurse, and a well-decorated waiting room." Klein continues, "If doctors need watchdogs, then we need to empower institutions or individuals with the education and ability to actually watch over them." 

Presumably, Klein thinks a free market would not do so. But if that means the government should monitor quality, how would Klein insulate that effort from the political influence of providers, whose incomes would depend on what the watchdogs decide? Are politicians never fooled by a ($2,000) handshake? Which is easier: to fool all of the people all of the time, or to fool 535 people at any given time?