Author Archives
David Cutler, PhD, is the Otto Eckstein Professor of Applied Economics, Department of Economics and Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.
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JAMA Forum: Payment Reform Is About to Become a Reality
The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) continues to take major steps toward transforming the payment system for Medicare. After hinting about a new payment reform plan in September, HHS Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell put out more specifics… Read More ›
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JAMA Forum: A New Federal Health Care Strategy
Although Ebola has consumed the health care headlines of late, US consumers are worried about more than this dangerous viral disease. The cost and quality of medical care remain paramount in people’s minds. In September, between dealing with Ebola and… Read More ›
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JAMA Forum: What Near-Death Experience Can Tell Us About Medical Care
In 2005, a survey was conducted examining how aggressively physicians treat patients near the end of life. Some 1500 primary care physicians and cardiologists were presented a scenario describing an 85-year-old man with severe congestive heart failure. The fictional patient… Read More ›
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JAMA Forum: Will the Country Look to Massachusetts Again?
By David Cutler, PhD, and Steven Walsh, JD Like bad generals who are “always fighting the last war,” the federal government is always fighting the last health care battle. More than 4 years after the Affordable Care Act was passed,… Read More ›
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JAMA Forum: The Three-Fold Path to Health Savings and Better Care
With each passing month, evidence accumulates that health care spending growth has reset to a new, lower level. Preliminary data for 2013 show an increase in health care spending essentially equal to the growth of the economy—a rate of increase… Read More ›
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JAMA Forum: Lessons From the ACA Crash
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) had a rough October and November. First, the federal health insurance exchange website (http://www.healthcare.gov) did not work as intended, making it virtually impossible for people who wanted coverage to sign up. Second, a number of… Read More ›
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JAMA Forum: The Obamacare Test
Three and a half years after the Affordable Care Act (ACA) was enacted, the main provisions are about to take effect. Enrollment in the health insurance exchanges begins October 1, coverage will be effective next January 1, and Medicaid expansions… Read More ›