The Future of Healthcare?

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force made a startling announcement this week, changing guidelines for screening for breast cancer. The group seven years ago recommended that women over 40 years old get mammograms, but have now issued revised guidelines advising women to get mammograms after turning 50.

It is certainly the case that new data can lead to a change in a diagnostic or treatment regimen, so the USPSTF's decision hopefully reflects their best current thinking.

But the worry is that the decision could reflect a desire to keep government health care costs down. Even if that wasn't the motivation for this decision, the mammogram controversy illustrates what may be a common occurrence under government-guided healthcare: to what extent will the advice, guidelines, or requirements be a function of the government's desire to cut costs?