WP Intelligence Health Brief: Cash or subsidies? Hill battles over health costs
FIRST IN HEALTH BRIEF: The group, called Fund the Patient, says it aims to “disrupt today’s health care system” by directing cash straight to patients through vehicles such as health savings accounts, instead of going through government programs or insurance companies.
“President Trump’s comments on social [media] over the weekend were spot-on — we need to fund patients rather than our broken healthcare system,” spokesman James Davis said in a statement. “We will leverage all tactics available to build support for this effort and improve healthcare outcomes in America.”
The group is being advised by Anthony DiGiorgio, a professor of neurosurgery at the University of California San Francisco, and Terry Wilcox, the co-founder of advocacy group Patients Rising.
“Patients get healthier and spend less when they can directly and personally benefit from better health and lower prices,” said Ge Bai, another advisory board member for the group and a professor of accounting and health policy at Johns Hopkins. “Government regulations like those in the Affordable Care Act detach patients from their healthcare dollars, causing unaffordability and restricting access.”