WEB CHAT: Searching for what works in medicine
Tuesday, September 15th, 2009
There has been much discussion and controversy about comparative effectiveness research and its role in healthcare reform. Join us for a live discussion on comparative effectiveness research and ask the experts your questions:
Time: Wednesday Sept. 16, 2009 at 12:00 noon
Our Experts:
Thomas Getzen, PhD is a health economist at Temple University's Fox School of Business. He has written several policy texts including Health Economics and Financing.
David Grande, MD, MPA is an internist and health policy analyst with the University of Pennsylvania's Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics. He discusses "The Burden of Health Care Costs for Working Families" in the July 30th edition of the New England Journal of Medicine.
Have a question ready for one of our experts? Leave it in the comments below:
The story this morning did not address if or how health insurance companies use comparative effectiveness research, or some similar process for deciding which treatments to cover. I've heard many anecdotal stories of insurance companies refusing to cover certain treatments in spite of doctor recommendations. This is a particularly important point in light of the Conservative for Patients' Rights spokesperson's comment about how terrible public-provided coverage is because it will (according to her) lead to the use of CER. But aren't most of us already subject to some version of this approach to treatment?