While much of Washington’s health policy community has been focused on the heated debate over the State Children’s Health Insurance Plan, little if any attention has been given to an important provision that is likely to be part of the Medicare legislation that will be considered between now and recess.
As written, the legislation would dramatically expand federally funded “comparative effectivenesseness. In order to determine the relative cost-effectiveness of alternative treatments, researchers have to place a dollar value on human life – usually $100,000 per additional quality year of life gained.
But a more “cost-effective