For more than a decade, policymakers have promoted value-based care as the future of American healthcare. Pay for outcomes. Reward quality over volume.Lower costs while improving patient care. On paper, it makes sense. In theory, it aligns incentives. In practice? The results are more complicated. If we’re serious about healthcare reform, we need to ask a straightforward question: Is value-based care actually delivering measurable results, or are we just relabeling the

When most people think about the cost of healthcare, they look at billing, drug prices, or insurance premiums. What they don’t see is the hidden cost that providers shoulder to comply with the rules. Every regulation comes with a price, not just in dollars, but also in terms of time, infrastructure, staffing, and attention. And when policymakers underestimate that cost, it distorts everything from reimbursement to patient access...