Fishing for a Forum on Health Policy

Abstract

The demise of the National Center for Health Care Technology has left the country without any comprehensive, nonpartisan forum for assessing the safety and cost effectiveness of biomedical technologies. While many private and public groups found the Center's evaluations useful, the American Medical Association and the Health Industry Manufacturers Association viewed it as a regulatory agency and lobbied for its closure. Despite the efforts of various medical societies, insurers, and the medical device industry to establish their own review programs, many policy analysts would like to see a federal panel revived. (KIE abstract)