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Bill Ryan Authors Plain Dealer Guest Column on Health Care Costs

On Saturday, Aug. 9, 2014, The Center for Health Affairs' President and CEO Bill Ryan addressed the theory that increased consumerism could help control health care costs in a Plain Dealer guest column entitled, "Increased consumerism won't help health care costs." 

The piece outlined three basic facts that contradict the idea that active consumerism could make a significant impact on health care costs:

• First, health care spending is not evenly spread throughout the population.
• Second, health care expenses are not a static commodity.
• Third, just as advances in medical treatment have driven a substantial increase in health care spending, our insufficient focus on public health is only serving to compound the problem.

Ryan closes his column on health care costs by saying, "Yes, consumerism may help some patients become more engaged; however, when you think about the facts, truly addressing health care spending is much more complex." 

For more on the three basic facts outlined by Ryan and to read his Plain Dealer guest column on health care costs in full, click here.