Commentary: Same price, better care

A conviction of scarcity abounds in the NHS. To question that claim is perilous, but the paper by Feachem et al runs the risk. Their conclusions, if believed, are blockbusters. They find that the per capita costs in Kaiser and the NHS "are similar to within 10%" and that Kaiser's performance in several important areas, including key preventive practices and the strategically crucial dimension of access to care, is "significantly better." (January 19, 2002)