Co-Paying the Piper - The Health Care Debate

Do Some Pay Too Little for Health Care?

Many economists, liberals and conservatives alike, have concluded that health costs will continue to rise out of control unless patients are required to pay more out of pocket for the services they use.

"If you make people pay more for their health care," said Uwe Reinhardt, a health economist at Princeton, "all you are doing is rationing health care according to income. People like you and me would continue to get all we want, and those without means would have to do without."

"When I was young and could not afford regular maintenance, my cars constantly broke down," he said. "Now my cars run forever."