The big news in Washington over the weekend was the self-congratulatory nods toward Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) and Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad (D-North Dakota) who introduced legislation that would form yet another committee to (pick one):
( ) Look at
( ) Monitor
( ) Compare
( ) Research
“what works” in medicine, The CommonWealth Fund’s Washington Health Policy Week in Review reported.
According to CQ HealthBeat, Baucus said on the Senate floor Friday:
“The corporation, which would be called the Health Care Comparative Effectiveness Research Institute, would be a private entity. But it would be governed by a public-private sector Board of Governors. It would not be an agency of the federal government.”
Federal agencies, however, as well as private corporations would oversee the committee, which is expected to bring in at least $300 million a year. Government officials have estimated that up to $700 billion a year in health spending could be eliminated through research identifying treatments that do not produce the best medical outcomes, CQ HealthBeat reported.
Think it will solve the health care crisis?