Dr. Peter Bach wants to turn the entire philosophical underpinnings of America’s health care system upside down.
In a new argument — first laid out in a zippy 10-minute speech at last week’s STAT Summit in Cambridge, Mass. — Bach suggests the incentives created by policymakers to improve public health aren’t actually the best ideas for achieving that overarching goal.
It centers on a seemingly heretical question: Is Washington’s obsession with eliminating rare diseases really the best use of taxpayer resources?
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Ehh, the problems he mentions seem not to be problems solvable by drugs (at least not primarily) but by a more expansive welfare state / social safety net. If we eliminate poverty, we can reduce deaths of despairs, etc. but probably will still need drugs for rare diseases.
Please post the ppt that Dr. Bach refers to, as it is challenging to fully grasp his points without it.