Stop Pretending That Good Health Is Always Cheaper

The Reaper Is Cheaper by Paul Howard, City Journal, 21 July 2009.

William Osler, a renowned nineteenth-century doctor and the first physician-in-chief at Johns Hopkins Hospital, once remarked, “Pneumonia may well be called the friend of the aged. Taken off by it in an acute, short, not often painful illness, the old man escapes the ‘cold gradations of decay,’ so distressing to himself and to his friends.” If Osler were alive today, he might call pneumonia the friend of Medicare accountants, since it kills victims quickly, in contrast with the lingering and expensive chronic illnesses that account for about three-quarters of all Medicare spending.

Also see the Bloomberg article, Health-Care Overhaul Plans Fail to Cut Costs, CBO Director Says .