Like most bloggers, we have a thing for celebrities from all walks of life (for years we carried around an autographed napkin from Ben and Jerry in our wallet). So when another famous purveyor of choice, Harvard Business School's Regina Herzlinger, came to town for a CATO Institute briefing on international health care systems the other day, we had to go hear the so-called godmother of the consumer driven health care movement.

Here's our best "Harvard Business Review" of Herzlinger's talk:

• As a country, we're headed toward covering everyone. Herzlinger made this assertion so casually we were a little taken aback. But to hear the author of a popular eulogy for American health care state she believes we're headed toward a future where all Americans are covered is encouraging. Even if we're not in total agreement on how to get there.
• Health care is killing the economy. Herzlinger estimated that GM spends about $900 more per car on health care than its foreign competitors, and cited a recent McKinsey Global Institute study claiming nearly half a trillion dollars of U.S. health care spending provides no added value. In fact, the New America Foundation released a paper today on health care and the global economy, and we're hosting an expert panel discussion this Friday.
• Who is buying matters in health care. Herzlinger stated that third party agents are poor purchasers of health care on behalf of individuals, and that providing informed individuals with real choice could increase competition and enhance productivity. While we are all in favor of making the health system more citizen-based, this transition must be accompanied by insurance market reforms (so that markets work for everyone) and subsidies (so that insurance is affordable).

While Herzlinger wants the individual at the center of health care, we feel strongly that health reform is a matter of individual and shared responsibility. Increasing price transparency, so consumers actually know the costs of their care, can be useful. But we've blogged before on some of the potential limitations of consumer driven health care as a model for addressing the bigger problems of cost, coverage, and quality in our heath care system. The Wall Street Journal (subscription) recently ran a piece noting that while more employers are offering high-deductible plans, consumers are often choosing not to fund the plans with health savings accounts, "leaving themselves open to large medical bills they may have no other means to pay."

Getting back to Ben and Jerry, health care is not the same as an ice cream cone. We can afford to go without ice cream. But no one in this country should have to go without health care. Yet the Congressional Budget Office states there's enough money in the system to bring everyone in if we do it right. We'll take a scoop of that.