Mandated benefits: a misguided effort.
The U.S. Congress is toying with the creation of universally mandated benefits for health care, most specifically in the health care reform proposal offered by the Clinton Administration. The notion of mandated benefits has already become a part of the health care scene in insurance and managed care plans. Instead of benefiting U.S. citizens as a whole, however, mandated benefits are likely to result in a reduction in health care accessibility and quality. The reason is that mandated benefits consume a continuously growing portion of the health care pie. Deming demonstrated that quality brings lower costs, but to obtain quality we must commit adequate resources. The free allocation of resources is negated by mandated benefits.
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D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D006264:Health Benefit Plans, Employee / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D018166:Health Care Reform / Q000191:economics / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D011787:Quality of Health Care; D014481:United States