Dianne Stewart

This paper examines various aspects of the value of and the access to CM from the perspective of the patient, the GP and the government regulators.  It looks at a long catalogue of questions involving the efficacy of CM, the patient’s choice, cost effectiveness, etc., including 'Does the practitioner have an incentive to give too much treatment when paid per session and too little when salaried, and is there potential for abuse?'  Terms like agency problem, consumer choice, equity and externality, commonly used by economists, appear throughout.  The paper concludes with the question 'Does the government have a right to save on expenditure, given the fact that the UK spends about half on health compared to countries like Germany?' and argues that an NHS which incorporates CM gives better value for money.