Somewhere in the stimulus bill is the creation of new federal council of 15 wise men and women who will control a $1.1 billion budget to evaluate research and recommend what treatments are effective for medical conditions.

Up to one-third of medical spending provides no value – that’s $700 billion. The goal of the comparative effectiveness research panel is to save money for the system as Medicare will likely stop paying for treatments deemed too costly or ineffective. Once Medicare stops, many private insurers will also follow suit. Too bad if it was the only thing that worked for you.

Funny enough, Zagat has recently entered the game of rating doctors. J.D. Power and Associates also reports on health plans, pharmacies, and hospitals. Both of which point to the power of consumers to determine what is comparatively effective for their conditions.

UPDATE: fixed typo, it’s $700 Billion with a “b”