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Bush Signs Order on Health Care: Agencies Required to Provide Data on Cost, Quality of Services (Michael A. Fletcher, 8/23/06, Washington Post)

President Bush signed a measure Tuesday ordering federal agencies to do more to inform beneficiaries about the cost and quality of their health-care services, which federal officials hailed as a major step toward bringing greater efficiency to the nation's medical system.

The executive order requires four federal agencies that oversee large health-care programs to gather information about the quality and price of care, and to share that information with one another and with program beneficiaries.

The initiative underscores Bush's belief that the nation's health-care system would be more efficient if consumers could shop for the best care at the best price, administration officials say. "The fact is, if you have excellent information about quality, about service and about price, people make good decisions," Bush said during a roundtable here to discuss the initiative.

It's also a necessary pre-condition for universal HSA's, so that as Americans become normal consumers of medical care again they can shop for low-cost quality services.

Posted by Orrin Judd at August 23, 2006 8:01 AM