Universal HealthcareBy NextBestFit
Phase 1: Enactment & build · Step 1.10

Create the Health Technology Assessment Institute

Months 0–18; continuous · HTA Institute (independent, within HHS)Discuss this step

Every existing law, program, institution, or practice this step changes: what it is today, what happens to it, when, and what that costs or trades off.

WhatTodayChangeTrade-off
Prior authorization & utilization management
replacedYear 1
Provider payment & regulation
Payer-specific rules; major administrative burden.Replaced by evidence-based national coverage rules from the HTA Institute, with narrow prior review only for listed high-risk services.Less burden; less case-by-case policing of low-value care.
AHRQ & PCORI (comparative-effectiveness research)
absorbedYear 0–1
Federal programs
Fund comparative-effectiveness research; PCORI is barred from using cost-per-QALY thresholds for coverage.Merged into the Health Technology Assessment Institute, whose findings inform coverage directly.Research gains direct influence on coverage; research independence may suffer when findings carry coverage stakes.