Inside-out health care reform.

I applaud the government’s interest and fervor for improving health care delivery in the United States. However, any mention of substantive health care reform must include several key inside-out elements. Otherwise, government spending will merely be symptomatic care, rather than addressing the root causes of increasing health care expenditures. Health care coverage has simply become too cheap for Americans. Patients devour health care resources needlessly because they can. I regularly see patients who fully recover from symptoms but keep their appointment anyway. There is no consequence for overuse of services. Only when individuals become more accountable for their health expenditures will we see considerable savings. If Americans have any measurable control over their health care costs, savings will naturally follow.