RE: “Universal coverage is the only way to control health costs,” Aug . 8

Dick Taeuber seems unaware the chief actuary of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services estimated that because of Affordable Care Act, total health care spending would increase by $311 billion by 2019. He also seems unaware the health care reform enacted by Gov. Mitt Romney in Massachusetts has also failed to control overall health care spending in that state.

So, no, neither reform Taeuber champions will end up controlling health care costs. They merely shift even more of the cost of paying for health care to taxpayers.

To really restrain costs, we need to put more control in the hands of patients. As Josh Archambault, director of health care policy at the Pioneer Institute in Massachusetts notes, “Real cost-containment is only possible when we encourage patients to reward low-cost, high-quality providers with their business.”

The ACA does not do this. In the way it expands coverage, primarily through Medicaid and subsidizing private insurance, it continues our current system that removes patient control over their health care spending. ACA empowers insurance companies and government bureaucrats to make spending decisions for patients, something that will only lead to greater overall health care spending.

The cost of health care in the U.S. is a growing burden on both taxpayers and health care consumers. The ill-designed reforms in Massachusetts and at the national level will only make this burden heavier.