Brawner: How Should Doctors Be Paid?

Say you hire someone to paint your house. Would you rather pay him and his assistants by the hour, by the gallon, or with a flat fee agreed upon before the project begins?

Probably the latter, lest your house be covered in layers of paint and your lawn in empty cans.

Say you have an appendicitis attack. How should your medical providers be paid?

That’s the analogy Stephens Media political columnist Steve Brawner uses to dive into the looming state Medicaid debate. We’ve reported on the subject extensively during the legislative session as the Beebe administration explores ways to head off a financial crisis in the making.

Brawner argues that this contentious debate will soon be on the political radar in a much bigger way as efforts to move forward are pursued and the critical deadline for dealing with budget issue grows closer.

You can his complete column on the subject at this link.