Washington Stuck Fighting Wrong Health-Care Battle

April 18 (Bloomberg) -- While Washington wonks continue tobicker over health policy, positive change is occurring outsidethe Beltway.

Last week, the Altarum Institute, a research organizationbased in Ann Arbor, Michigan, reported that the moderation inthe growth of health-care costs we have seen over the past fewyears is continuing: Total health spending rose by less than 4percent from February 2011 to February 2012. And it’sencouraging to see the progress that doctors, hospitals andother providers are making to improve the value of care -- bycutting back on unnecessary procedures, for example, expandingtheir use of information technology, and switching from fee-for-service to compensation schemes aimed at maximizing the qualityof treatment.