An interesting proposition and an interesting observation

In an interview with The Fiscal Times, Uwe Reinhardt discusses healthcare in the United States and makes a very interesting proposition that I completely agree with:

TFT: You have studied hospital pricing systems around the world. What lessons do they offer for restraining prices?

UR: What is needed in hospitals is a management information system, and it's actually doable — these systems exist. Tracing every order entry of every doctor for every patient by every input, so that you can create files of costliness of treating patients by doctor. The other innovation we need is not so much in the hospital. We should have an all-payer system where every payer — Blue Cross, Medicare, Medicaid, you name it — pays the same fee for every service. But to do that you really have to have universal coverage.

Mr. Reinhardt also makes an interesting observation about our form of government:

TFT: So you favor universal coverage but not a single payer system?

UR: For other countries I do [favor single payer] but we can't run it. You need a responsible system of governance. Whatever you can say about U.S. governance, you cannot call it responsible. You really couldn't. I think the founding fathers gave us an impotent government that acts quite irresponsibly. I don't think parliamentary systems are that bad.