Jon Walker of the Sioux Falls Argus Leader reports on how South Dakota’s status as the 47th cheapest market in which Medicare does business may provide a model of health care efficiency which the rest of the nation can follow.
The comparisons come from the Dartmouth Atlas Project, which shows the Upper Midwest and Great Plains leading the way. It concludes that economizing does not hurt quality.
Local health officials wish their ability to control costs would spare them from cost-cutting measures included in proposed reform legislation, Walker reports.
“One of our big disappointments with the health care reform package … is that it does nothing to recognize efficient, high-quality health care,” said Dave Hewett, president of the South Dakota Association of Healthcare Organizations.
