Beware The Health Care “Nudge”

Dennis Smith / August 31, 2009

The White House public relations team has a problem. Where on earth did people get these ideas about government rationing health care? They ask. Why do people imagine they will lose their private health insurance coverage or doctor? After all, the President repeatedly says that will not happen. Period. Why is there such fear out there?

The White House media folks need to look no further than across the street to the Eisenhower Executive Office Building where top Presidential appointees, Peter Orzag and Cass Sunstein hang out. Both have expressed an interest in behavioral economics. Professor Sunstein is the co-author of Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, an interesting book, which emphasizes the official presentation of information in a manner that “nudges” individuals to make certain decisions. (more…)