Perspectives on Health Care Reform in the U.K.

The rapid growth of health care costs is a growing global concern. As the United States embarks on the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, one of the largest transformations of its health care system, the United Kingdom has also embarked on reform of its National Health Service to achieve low-cost, high-quality care. In both the U.S. and the U.K., growing economic pressures and an aging population are making the challenges associated with “bending the health care cost” curve especially acute.

On November 9, the Engelberg Center for Health Care Reform at Brookings hosted a discussion with U.K. Secretary of State for Health Andrew Lansley, who presented his vision for modernizing the U.K. health care system to improve quality and productivity. Following Minister Lansley’s remarks, Mark McClellan, director of the Engelberg Center and Leonard D. Schaeffer chair in Health Policy Studies at Brookings, lead a conversation with the minister around aligning incentives for a sustainable high-value health care system.

After the program, Minister Lansley took audience questions.