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Economics of Health Care
A Category Archive (367 entries)
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November 14, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Sally Satel writes, About one in two American doctors say they prescribe placebos to their patients, and more than two-thirds believe it permissible to do so, according to a new study from the National Institutes of Health. Nortin Hadler believes... MORE
October 31, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Brad DeLong and David Cutler promise one, on behalf of Barack Obama. As the reforms take hold, costs will drop. As costs drop, insurance will become more affordable. Millions previously priced out of the market will be able to buy... MORE
October 27, 2008
Economics of Health Care
David Henderson
Economists often talk about Pareto-optimal moves, that is, changes in policy that make some people better off without making anyone else worse off. But we have trouble coming up with any real examples. It's an easy exercise to show that... MORE
October 19, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Ezra Klein highlights them. They show little difference in outcomes between genuine treatments and placebos. The implication of course is that it's far cheaper to give someone a chest incision than an angina, and far cheaper to give them a... MORE
September 16, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
David Cutler, Brad DeLong, and Ann Marie Marciarille write, One-third of medical costs go for services at best ineffective and at worst harmful. Fifty billion dollars will jump-start the long-overdue information revolution in health care to identify the best providers,... MORE
September 10, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Robert J. Samuelson writes, The central health-care problem is not improving coverage. It's controlling costs...Countless studies have shown that many tests, surgeries and medical devices are either ineffective or unneeded. Greater health-care spending forfeits any superior moral claim on our... MORE
September 5, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
The Washington Post reports, Facing a severe budget shortfall, Rhode Island officials are seeking unprecedented authority to rein in Medicaid spending in a move that has alarmed Democrats in Congress and advocates for the poor. Read the whole story. I... MORE
August 15, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Steffie Woolhandler, Benjamin Day, and David U. Himmelstein write, Meanwhile, few of the near-poor uninsured seem able to afford even the newly subsidized policies, and the federal funds providing the bulk of the subsidies are set to expire in 2008.... MORE
July 31, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
He quotes a comment from David R. Henderson. I'm reluctantly coming to the conclusion, after having read his site almost daily for over a year, that Tyler is not a free-market crusader. Henderson is referring to the Freddie-Fannie bailout, which... MORE
July 30, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Mark Thoma writes, when I think about moving P to G, I also think about moving the revenue stream with it (e.g. individuals would pay monthly premiums in taxes rather than to the insurance company). Thus, if we move all... MORE
Business Economics
Arnold Kling
1. I should have more autonomy. 2. I should be rewarded more for my own ideas that work. 3. I should be penalized less for my own ideas that fail. 4. Competition that is innovative or inexpensive is unfair. That... MORE
July 29, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
He writes, But focusing on the immediate problems brought about by tax cuts and military spending should not divert us from the more formidable problem of solving the escalating health cost problem. If Obama wins and tries to institute some... MORE
July 20, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Bryan Caplan
In an otherwise wise addendum to his latest NYT column, Tyler takes a swipe at Health Savings Accounts:By the way, I think that HSAs are ineffective as health care reform and that the so-called "right" is floundering on this issue,... MORE
July 18, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Two relatively new books that I have not read. One is by Roger Feldman. Should Medicare pay for patient expenses the way automobile insurers pay for car-repair bills? ...Medicare would pay each patient a fixed amount of money, reserving larger... MORE
July 16, 2008
Books: Reviews and Suggested Readings
Arnold Kling
Bruno Frey writes, procedural utility has also been found to play a role in consumers' decisions. The first evidence of this was presented by Kahneman, et al., who investigated customers' reactions to a situation where the price of a good... MORE
July 10, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Jane Gross writes, Looking back on the last few years of my mother’s life, ...my single biggest mistake was not finding a doctor with expertise in geriatrics to quarterback her care and attend to the quality of her life, not... MORE
July 1, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
He says, Don’t be afraid of it; it’s actually the leading industry. The demands of healthcare are going to pull all other industries forward...I say if this were a privatized system, we would all say “gee it’s wonderful. All these... MORE
June 30, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
An hour-long podcast featuring Russ Roberts and me.... MORE
June 29, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
The New York Times reports, more than 1,000 other cardiologists and hospitals have installed CT scanners like the one Dr. Rosenblatt turned down. Many are promoting heart scans to patients with radio, Internet and newspaper ads. Time magazine and Oprah... MORE
June 17, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
A new essay: The autonomous, self-directed doctors produced by our medical schools are not suited to treating complex patients. Instead, what we need are team players, implementing consistent corporate policies. Independent skilled craftsmen, flying by the seat of their pants,... MORE
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Ben Bernanke, who I think of as center-right, says, Per capita health-care spending in the United States has increased at a faster rate than per capita income for a number of decades. Should that trend continue, as many economists predict... MORE
June 13, 2008
Income Distribution
Arnold Kling
Income distribution, education, health care, and oil prices. David Henderson rushes in where few right-of-center economists dare to tread. He talks about the income distribution. The average number of earners per family for the top quintile is 2.16, almost three... MORE
May 29, 2008
Fiscal Policy
Arnold Kling
From a web site put together by Congressman Paul Ryan, It is a real plan, with real proposals, real numbers to back them, and real legislation to implement it. Based on the analysis of government actuaries, this plan is projected... MORE
May 28, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Bryan Caplan
Check out these true Monty Python-esque dialogues between a series of hospitals and a guy who wants an affordable colonoscopy. First dialogue:Conversation with Stanford Hospital: Me: My wife needs a colonoscopy: Could you give me a price on it? Stanford... MORE
May 27, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Bryan Caplan
If Michael Moore really wanted to challenge our preconceptions about health care, Sicko would have been a documentary about health care in Singapore. Nick Schulz just pointed me to a very good summary of how the system works. It's not... MORE
May 21, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Congressman Paul Ryan is the first politician I have seen with a plan that makes Medicare sustainable. The bill secures the existing Medicare program for those over 55 - so Americans can receive the benefits they planned for throughout most... MORE
April 21, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Bryan Caplan
I've been a pitiful figure the last six months. My feet have been hurting so much that I practically abandoned all walking on paved surfaces. I've been teaching class sitting down. I even started wearing real shoes. Desperation drove me... MORE
March 25, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Bryan Caplan
One of Robin Hanson's greatest unpublishable papers has finally been published. "Showing That You Care: The Evolution of Health Altruism" appears in the latest issue of Medical Hypotheses. Here's Robin summarizing the paper and his decade-plus struggle to publish it.... MORE
March 24, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
In Sunday's Washington Post, Jacob Hacker wrote, getting the government more involved in health care would actually reduce costs, improve quality and bolster the U.S. economy -- which helps explain why public insurance is the secret weapon in both of... MORE
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Crisis of Abundance is now in paperback, for ten bucks at Amazon. The fact that Peter Orszag, no ideological fellow-traveler of mine, sounds many similar themes indicates to me that I can feel justifiably proud of the book. Two changes... MORE
March 23, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
He spoke at the Wilson School. The audio sounds bad on my computer, but he makes an important point. If health care costs are 16 percent of GDP, and we could reduce spending by 30 percent with no worse outcomes,... MORE
February 28, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Glen Whitman writes, suppose that a country currently provides everyone the same quality of health care. And then suppose the quality of health care improves for half of the population, while remaining the same (not getting any worse) for the... MORE
February 14, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
'rdan' quotes a study in the New England Journal of Medicine. Although some preventive measures do save money, the vast majority reviewed in the health economics literature do not. Careful analysis of the costs and benefits of specific interventions, rather... MORE
February 13, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
from Kevin Drum: But if it's price signals and competition you're after, why not cut out the middleman and have consumers pay doctors directly? For example, imagine a national healthcare plan that paid 75% of all medical expenses but required... MORE
February 12, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Tyler Cowen waxes romantic. Let me also tell you my ideal world. Insurance companies are judged by honest third party intermediaries. Insurance companies compete like heck to make customers satisfied. Insurance companies monitor doctors, read Robin Hanson, and require evidence-based... MORE
February 4, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Jonathan Gruber writes, It is useful to think about the uninsured as tuna and those who already have insurance as dolphins. The goal of environmentally conscious fishermen is to catch as many tuna as possible in their nets, while minimizing... MORE
February 1, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Called the Medicare Coordinated Care Demonstration Coordinated care services are actions taken by a Registered Nurse (RN) Care Manager to help your doctor(s) determine your care. The RN Care Manager will also check on you at regular times and help... MORE
January 31, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Shikha Dalmia writes, The state health-care bill for fiscal 2008-2009 is expected to touch $400 million -- 85% more than originally projected. Still the state won't be able to fully shield those it subsidizes from the premium increases. But uninsured... MORE
January 30, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
I'm back home, a thousand miles away from my father. But he had another setback, and he is back in the main hospital. I am not expecting any miracles. I know that the clock has been ticking ever since his... MORE
January 29, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
My latest essay: Medicare is wonderful for relieving the elderly from the burden of worrying about health care expenses. By the same token, it is wonderful for relieving doctors of the burden of worrying about the elderly as customers. You... MORE
January 28, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
David Cutler, Amy Finkelstein and Kathleen McGarry write, Standard theories of insurance, dating from Rothschild and Stiglitz (1976), stress the role of adverse selection in explaining the decision to purchase insurance. In these models, higher risk people buy full or... MORE
January 20, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Bryan Caplan
Ian Ayres' Super Crunchers is full of neat material. But my favorite parts highlight the innumeracy of the medical profession. Most vivid example:[M]y partner, Jennifer, and I were expecting for the first time - back in 1994. Back then, women... MORE
January 13, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Richard Posner writes, the uninsured are on average less rather than more healthy than the insured Gary Becker writes most of those without health insurance are young and do not have major medical expenses. Well, I suppose that the uninsured... MORE
Political Economy
Arnold Kling
The Boston Globe reports Mayor Thomas M. Menino embarked on a highly public campaign yesterday to block CVS Corp. and other retailers from opening medical clinics inside their stores, an effort that exposed a rift between Menino and the state's... MORE
Economics of Health Care
Bryan Caplan
In The Undercover Economist, Tim Harford highly praised the health care policies of Singapore. But it wasn't until I read the section on health care in Ghesquiere's Singapore's Success that I realized how amazing the official numbers are. If the... MORE
January 9, 2008
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Megan McArdle writes, My (partial) list of the interesting questions: 1. Is Medicare well structured to provide good health care to the elderly? 2. Is Medicare encouraging today's workers to save less than they will ultimately need? In other words,... MORE
December 31, 2007
Behavioral Economics and Rationality
Arnold Kling
Cass Sunstein and Ed Glaeser: we suggest that social learning is often best characterized by what we call Credulous Bayesianism. Unlike perfect Bayesians, Credulous Bayesians treat offered opinions as unbiased and independent and fail to adjust for the information sources... MORE
December 25, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
From the New York Times. The machines accelerate protons to nearly the speed of light and shoot them into tumors. Scientists say proton beams are more precise than the X-rays now typically used for radiation therapy, meaning fewer side effects... MORE
December 19, 2007
Finance: stocks, options, etc.
Arnold Kling
Nick Schulz sends me three interesting links. 1. A shining example of what I call a bogus mortgage lender. In 2004, Bohan Group, a due diligence underwriting company, was hired by a bank to double-check the suitability of mortgages written... MORE
December 18, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Richard Dolinar, M.D., writes, The physician has taken the history, performed the physical, reviewed the labs, and discussed the illness with the patient and family. He knows the patient's wishes, desires, and values. All this critical information must be considered... MORE
December 14, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
of hearing me talk about health care policy? If so, then don't click on the link to this podcast. I elaborate on ideas I wrote about in Government and Health Care: The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly.... MORE
December 12, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Peter Orszag writes, A congressional hearing tomorrow will focus on new long-term budget projections from the Congressional Budget Office. CBO projects that under current law, federal spending on Medicare and Medicaid measured as a percentage of gross domestic product will... MORE
November 28, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
From my latest essay: Overall, I am not persuaded that socialized medicine will prove more efficient in the United States. However, I am not a big fan of the insurance industry as it operates today, and I think that it... MORE
November 20, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
From a new analysis by the Congressional Budget Office: in the absence of changes in federal law: --Total spending on health care would rise from 16 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) in 2007 to 25 percent in 2025, 37... MORE
Economics of Health Care
Bryan Caplan
Last year I argued that AIDS estimates were inflated. Now the UN has cut its estimate of the number infected by 40%. This is getting to be a pattern! HT: Tyler (who once said I was dead wrong about this...)... MORE
November 19, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Alex Tabarrok writes, I consider a 1% chance of death to be very risky, perhaps worthwhile for some morbidly obese people but when 1 in every 100 patients doesn't make it off the table that is not good odds. What... MORE
November 14, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
The Left's story of health international health care comparisons is the following: 1. The U.S. system is flawed. 2. Other countries' systems work much better. 3. The U.S. system relies on the free market. 4. There are two systems of... MORE
November 12, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
He writes, You don't have to choose between universal access and innovation. It's possible to have both--as long as you do it right. By universal access, he means a government-run system. By innovation, he means wonderful new medical procedures. The... MORE
November 7, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
The New York Times reports, An influential medical standards group plans to present a new model today for helping employers and insurers to identify the best primary care doctors and to steer patients their way. Those doctors, in turn, would... MORE
November 6, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Greg Mankiw writes, Almost all sweeping health reform proposals involve higher taxes on the rich to provide benefits for those farther down the economic ladder. The redistribution, rather than health reform, is sometimes the main objective. To judge whether my... MORE
November 5, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
I talk for an hour with Russ Roberts, here. I'd love to hear your comments. Don't forget to vote for econtalk in the podcast awards. Finally, Greg Mankiw raises some issues with health care statistics. 1. International comparisons of longevity... MORE
October 31, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
As you see in the comments on this post, the Left has an answer to my concern that Medicare is the fiscal equivalent of the Titanic. The answer is, "We need to control health care costs!" Of course! Why didn't... MORE
October 30, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Kevin Drum writes, here's an idea: expand Medicare (or create a similar program) to cover every person in America under the age of 21. And then let them keep it as they grow older. In ten years everyone under 31... MORE
October 24, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
She is a market-hating health care expert. She writes, Just as the U.S. spends more per person on healthcare than any other country in the world on healthcare, healthcare expenditures in Massachusetts surpass spending in every other state. And this,... MORE
Income Distribution
Arnold Kling
Terry J. Fitzgerald in the Minneapolis Fed Review: Fringe benefits have become an increasingly important part of employee compensation over the past 30 years. The BLS estimates that benefits currently account for about 30 percent of employer costs for employee... MORE
October 19, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Tyler Cowen writes, Two strong points that can be scored against conservatism or market-oriented ideas, as opposed to the Bush Administration. First, state-level tax and spending limits haven't worked out. Second, "the right" doesn't (yet?) have a coherent health care... MORE
October 18, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
You might think that the fact that I disagree with Ezra Klein about single-payer health insurance is a "dog bites man" story. But read on. Klein writes, We’ve got all these great universal bills passing at the state level, and... MORE
October 17, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Megan McArdle writes, Take a test for a disease that has a false positive rate of 5%, and a disease prevalence of 1 in 1000--lupus, say. If you test positive in a random assay, what are the odds that you... MORE
October 12, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
He asks some rhetorical questions For all the grandiose promises made in this campaign, has any candidate spoken honestly to the American people about the government's role and failings about individual responsibilities? Has any candidate told the truth about the... MORE
October 10, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
My review of Shannon Brownlee's new book. Brownlee proposes the alternative of paying doctors a salary, based on the number of patients that they see. However, I would argue that this would create the opposite incentive. Under a capitation based... MORE
October 7, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Glen Whitman writes, To enact any mandate, legislators and bureaucrats must specify a minimum benefits package that an insurance policy must cover. Yet this package can't be defined in an apolitical way. Each medical specialty, from oncology to acupuncture, will... MORE
October 5, 2007
Political Economy
Arnold Kling
Tyler Cowen makes 8 remarks about journalism. The one that most reinforces what I believe is: Journalists tend to favor visible stories and neglect invisible opportunity costs and invisible hand mechanisms, which often but not always puts them against the... MORE
September 19, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
I promised I would have more to say about Aubrey de Grey's book, and I do that in this essay. At a more subtle level, de Grey wants institutional changes that wrest control of the research agenda from the medical... MORE
September 18, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Now that Hillary Clinton has released her health care plan, it occurs to me that "health care reform" has become an Orwellian term. Her proposal, like those of other Democrats, would take our existing form of health insurance--what I call... MORE
September 16, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Timothy Taylor's column in the latest Journal of Economic Perspectives points to an interview with Robert Fogel. What we currently call the poverty line is so high that only the top 6 percent or 7 percent of the people who... MORE
September 12, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Bryan Caplan
From Robin Hanson:Heroic medicine is just too central to our culture, a culture where economists like me have far less authority than doctors. From Rudi Giuliani: Ultimately, a woman should make that [decision whether to get an abortion] with her... MORE
Economics of Health Care
Bryan Caplan
To be honest, when Robin Hanson first told me his views on health care, I thought he was a lone nut. A brilliant lone nut, but a lone nut nonetheless. Still, my conversations with Robin inspired me to grill every... MORE
September 10, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
He writes, Cutting half of medical spending would seem to cost little in health, and yet would free up vast resources for other health and utility gains. To their shame, health experts have not said this loudly and clearly enough.... MORE
September 8, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Cheryl Miller writes Prematurity is now the leading cause of infant mortality in the United States, in part due to the “epidemic” of multiple births to IVF patients. Multiples are twenty times more likely to die in the first month... MORE
August 31, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Bryan Caplan
...according to Northwestern Mutual's statistical applet. But I suspect they don't realize that we should all expect to outlive our so-called "life expectancy." P.S. Notice how the applet does not include income as a predictor of life expectancy - contrary... MORE
August 9, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
But he plays one at his blog. Dr. Bob offers his diagnosis of the health care system, in 8 parts. From Part 7. one of the latest gimmicks the health care policy wonks have dreamed up, more commonly known as... MORE
August 8, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
David Leonhardt writes, No one really knows whether preventive medicine will save money in the long run, let alone free up the billions of dollars a year needed to help pay for universal health insurance. In fact, studies have shown... MORE
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
I received some pushback on my latest health care essay, in which I argued that many of the people who are uninsured have made a choice and should live with the consequences. A reader pointed out that 9 million of... MORE
August 7, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Notwithstanding what I wrote here, I try to make a case the "universal coverage" is no panacea for health care. I write, I would like to see the abolition of the tax break for company-provided health benefits as well as... MORE
August 5, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Ken Rogoff raises a very important issue. Many societies view healthcare as a right, not a luxury. When medical expenses constituted only a small percentage of income, as was typically the case 50 years ago, an egalitarian approach to healthcare... MORE
August 1, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Mark Thoma writes, [Columnist Robert J.] Samuelson's continual focus on the budget deficit obscures the real problem. It doesn't matter whether health care is in the public domain or the private domain, the costs will be daunting either way if... MORE
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Alex Berenson thinks that he has gotten to the crux of America's health care spending problem. the partisan fight over insurers and drug makers is a distraction from a bigger problem: the relatively high salaries paid to American doctors, and... MORE
July 25, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
The Wall Street Journal reports primary-care doctors, including internists, family physicians, and pediatricians, are in short supply across the country. Their numbers dropped 6% relative to the general population from 2001 to 2005, according to the Center for Studying Health... MORE
July 24, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
From an article by Ron Bailey. Olshansky argues that the old paradigm of directly targeting diseases is about to run out of steam. Even if all cancer, all heart disease and all diabetes were eliminated, it would add only 3... MORE
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
A reader points me to this interview with Andy Stern, head of the Service Employees union. He says that employer-provided health insurance is an anachronism. Coming from a union guy, that's refreshing. It would be even more refreshing coming from... MORE
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Tyler Cowen asks, in market equilibrium, should we expect two- or three month-long waits to see a doctor? The alternative is for the doctor to charge more for a visit, thereby shortening the queue. My guess is that this has... MORE
July 10, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
According to the Washington Post, it comes from Jonathan Gruber. Instead, Gruber argued for a more incremental approach, like the one in Massachusetts he helped write. Its central elements would be providing subsidies to people who are unable to pay... MORE
July 8, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Reihan Salam writes, Mind you, we want poor people to be less cost-conscious when it comes to consuming healthcare, so in one obvious sense this is a strength of the French alternative. But then there's everyone else. The post is... MORE
July 2, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
He writes If you set up a market-based health system, allowing insurance companies to pick and choose who and what they will cover, you give them overwhelming incentives to dump, deny, avoid and neglect the sick people. But the data... MORE
June 30, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
I have a piece in the Washington Times. I compare Michael Moore's "Sicko" with my wife's "documentary" of our daughter's college graduation last month. On one side of me at the graduation sat the director/co-star, a breast cancer survivor. On... MORE
June 27, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Ezra Klein writes, To this day, I've never read a compelling explanation of why the nation's doctors and hospitals haven't broadly adopted electronic medical records. Has he not read my explanation, or does he not think it compelling? In case... MORE
June 21, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Max Sawicky noticed that I use the phrase "my guess" a lot. A few weeks ago, Julian Sanchez wrote, But it occurs to me that in addition to the phrases at large in the written culture of the society, there... MORE
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
My latest essay says, Illness deprives us of the sense of physical safety. Disease and injury are a throwback to the circumstances in which our physical environment is threatening and overwhelming. Thus, health problems tend to trigger our collectivist instincts.... MORE
June 18, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Paul Krugman gets excited over research by John Komlos and Benjamin E. Lauderdale. They write, Results: US heights have stabilized at mid-century and a perio0d of stagnation set in with the birth cohorts 1955-74, concurrent with continual rapid increases in... MORE
June 12, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Clive Crook writes, Much more needs to be done to push employers out of the health insurance market. Most of the reforms now being touted, by Democrats and Republicans alike, aim to do the opposite. ...You could give everybody a... MORE
June 10, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
He proposes, 20% Deductible/Out of Pocket Cap: The IRS snarfs 20% of your family economic income. 5% of it is an increase in taxes (but that replaces your and your employer's current health insurance premiums). 15% of it goes straight... MORE
June 6, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
James Pethokoukis thinks that Rudy Guiliani has fallen under my spell. what Giuliani is doing is far more radical than his folksy debate answer suggests. Essentially, he is calling for the complete abolition of the current way healthcare insurance operates... MORE
May 29, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
1. Russ Roberts interviews Robin Hanson, for those of you who are curious to find out more about his thesis that when people do not pay for their own health care, the services that they obtain on average do as... MORE
May 15, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
My latest TCS essay says, Many people began to agitate for universal, government-provided prostitution insurance, arguing that such systems were working in Canada and in many European countries. Such a single-payer system for prostitution would solve the growing problems of... MORE
May 14, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Bryan Caplan
Hansonian doubts aside, I've been thinking about getting LASIK (laser corrective eye surgery) for a couple of years. By making a small investment of discomfort and cash, I could save about 30 hours of time per year (cleaning glasses, doctor... MORE
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
The Baltimore Sun reports National Imaging Associates estimated several years ago that as many as 30 percent of imaging studies were not needed or not the correct test, although NIA believes the number may have declined as insurers have tightened... MORE
May 8, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
What is this Hansonian view of medicine that you hear me talk about? Robin Hanson explains. The bottom line is that thousands of people randomly given free medicine in the late 1970s consumed 30-40% more medical services, paid one more... MORE
April 27, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Bryan Caplan
A result from Kate Bundorf that (a) I'd like to believe, (b) Seems logical in light of basic micro, but (c) Still strikes me as implausible: Who pays the added costs associated with high rates of obesity? Most health insurance... MORE
April 23, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Tyler Cowen writes, Let's say a patient pays $1000 to a doctor, but half of that sum is fraudulent pricing brought on by patient irrationality, non-transparency, fear of death, and fraud. Sound familiar? The real social cost is what the... MORE
April 20, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
From the Hartford (Ct.) Courant: Universal Care Might Cost State Almost $18 Billion; Proposal Seen As Dead Later in the story, a spokesman for the state's governor is quoted. "If 6 percent of the people need health insurance, the program... MORE
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
My Cato friend Michael Cannon writes, I may lose my health policy decoder ring for asking this, but should we really be focusing specifically on covering the uninsured? ...there are other approaches that could purchase more health for the money... MORE
April 19, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
According to the New England Journal of Medicine: the age-adjusted incidence rate of breast cancer in women in the United States fell sharply (by 6.7%) in 2003, as compared with the rate in 2002. Data from 2004 showed a leveling... MORE
April 16, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Nobel Laureate Gary Becker writes, Long-term health insurance with individual plans is uncommon mainly because health insurance companies cannot force customers to make a long-term commitment. If a person has experienced good health, he may seek a cheaper plan with... MORE
April 11, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Jason Furman writes, What we need is a different approach to encourage cost consciousness in a progressive manner that links the level of cost sharing to income and attempts to use cost sharing to improve systemwide incentives for more effective... MORE
April 10, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
A commenter on a previous post challenged me to design a single-payer health care system. OK, here goes. We can call this the Arlo health care plan (Arlo is my analogue to Tyrone, Tyler Cowen's evil twin). 1. I am... MORE
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Jonathan Cohn writes, French universal health insurance works an awful lot like Medicare does in this country. And that's the great irony of how screwy the debate over health care has become in this country. Conservatives always talk about expanding... MORE
April 4, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Jonathan Skinner writes Fronstin (2006) estimates that a 55-year-old couple in 2006, planning to retire at age 65, would need to accumulate more than $400,000 during the next 10 years in order to afford supplemental health costs, beyond what Medicare... MORE
March 26, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
The Los Angeles Times reports, The study, called the Courage Trial, enrolled 2,287 patients at 15 VA medical centers and another 35 hospitals in the United States and Canada. It was sponsored primarily by the VA and the Canadian Institutes... MORE
March 23, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Senator Tom Coburn offers a market-oriented alternative. Under the Act, Americans would be eligible for a tax rebate to purchase health insurance. The “Medi-Choice” rebate would be made directly to a patient’s health insurer and would be worth $2,000. Families... MORE
March 22, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Here is single-payer health care in a nutshell: 1. People are forced to buy something that they don't seem to want 2. Provided by a monopoly 3. Paid for by higher taxes If you need a more nuanced discussion, follow... MORE
March 15, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Marc Siegel writes, By the time a lung cancer is seen on an X-ray it is almost always too widespread to be operated on. Hence, the only chance for a cure is finding it before it has spread via a... MORE
March 7, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Wall Street Journal technology reporter Lee Gomes describes his treatment for pneumonia. Abbott's Harold C. Flynn says it takes the Cell-Dyn 34 seconds to do an analysis. During that time, it counts an average of 325,000 cells, and then goes... MORE
February 28, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Bryan Caplan
Robin Hanson describes four interesting meta-studies on medical research that ought to make you less confident about the latest study that "proves" the wonders of modern medicine.... MORE
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Amy Finkelstein writes, Research I conducted shows that Medicare had a substantial effect on the health-care sector. By 1970, the program caused a 37% increase in hospital spending. This is an enormous number. If I extrapolate from the Medicare experience... MORE
February 27, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Chapin White writes Figure 2 illustrates excess growth in real Medicare spending on physician and clinical services. During the 1970s and 1980s, excess growth was quite high, generally ranging between 4 percent and 8 percent. Beginning around 1990, excess growth... MORE
February 16, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Nobel Laureate Daniel McFadden writes, My overall conclusion is that, so far, the Part D program has succeeded in getting affordable prescription drugs to the senior population. Its privatized structure has not been a significant impediment to delivery of these... MORE
February 14, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
The McKinsey Global Institute reports, In a study comparing the United States and the United Kingdom, Aaron showed that the United States has four times the number of CT scanners per person, and performs four times the number of scans... MORE
February 12, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
My latest essay: Somehow, health insurance has become a social fetish. I could travel to the far reaches of the globe, and almost everywhere I would find merchants where my credit is good and my dollars are welcome. But here... MORE
February 7, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Ezekiel J. Emanuel and Victor R. Fuchs write, [Most health care reform plans] prop up the sagging employment-based insurance system, with all its inefficiencies and inequities, and preserve the second-class income-tested programs such as Medicaid... The country needs comprehensive reform.... MORE
February 5, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Bryan Caplan
When was the last time Tyler Cowen and I agreed? Let's just say it's been a while. But he's just hit the adverse selection nail on the head: When I argue that adverse selection is not the key, I hear... MORE
January 30, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
The Boston Globe reports, More than 200,000 people with health insurance would have to buy additional coverage to meet proposed minimum standards under the state's new health insurance law, according to a count completed by insurers yesterday. Most of the... MORE
January 26, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
He writes, Our irresistible force is our belief that health care should not be rationed by price. Our immovable object is the unwillingness of American taxpayers to be turned into an IV drip bag for the health sector that the... MORE
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
The Cato Unbound discussion of health insurance in which I participated has wound down. Here is a snippet from Jonathan Cohn's last post. Programs exclusively for poor people tend to be poor (because they lack powerful political constituencies)... Now, conservatives... MORE
January 24, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
I write, Consider the status quo. An economist on the faculty at Princeton who receives generous health benefits from the University is able to enjoy them tax-free. So can the professor's secretary. But, as with all tax breaks, there is... MORE
January 23, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Jonathan Zasloff writes Bush plans to pay for [his proposed health insurance deduction] not by efficiencies, but rather by restricting the benefit packages of the already insured, through the deductibility cap. Paying for something with efficiencies is nothing but a... MORE
January 21, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Greg Mankiw points to a story about a health policy proposal under consideration by President Bush. Bush's health-care proposal would use tax breaks to make it easier for people who do not have employer-provided health insurance to buy coverage on... MORE
January 19, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
He accuses Arnold Kling, who thinks the healthcare biz need less insurance and more free market capitalism in order to drive down costs and force people to buy only the care they need. I doubt it. More likely it would... MORE
January 17, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
The Cato Unbound issue on health care has reached the rebuttal stage. I write, ...So I agree with Holt's diagnosis, that health care providers have too much political power. But his prescription–to put more of the health care system under... MORE
January 15, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Jacob S. Hacker writes, If one word captures the essence of Health Care for America, it is "guaranteed." Health Care for America would guarantee coverage; it would guarantee a generous package of benefits; it would guarantee greater choice; and it... MORE
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
James Miller notes a New York Times story on corporations setting up in-house health clinics. Miller comments, Much of economic growth comes from specializing. Whatever is requiring firms such as Pepsi to "unspecialize" by providing health care is greatly harming... MORE
January 13, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
The Wall Street Journal reports, As doctors studied the course of treatment of dozens of patients at Virginia Mason's spine clinic, it was clear no standard procedures were being followed. Though Virginia Mason physicians are salaried and have no direct... MORE
January 10, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
A CBO report says, A chain pharmacy usually dispenses prescriptions as written by the physician for brand-name drugs under patent protection; so even though a chain pharmacy may buy a large volume of brand-name drugs under patent protection, it generally... MORE
January 8, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
In this essay, I start by suggesting that hardly anyone has health insurance. The health coverage most Americans have is what I call “insulation,” not insurance. Rather than insuring them against risk, most families’ health plans insulate them from paying... MORE
January 4, 2007
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
Gina Kolata of the New York Times discusses research showing that staying in school longer tends to extend life. A key paper is by Adriana Lleras-Muney. Her approach to sorting out causality and confounding effects: between 1915 and 1939, at... MORE
December 13, 2006
Economics of Health Care
Arnold Kling
David Leonhardt reports, People with a drug-coated stent seemed unusually vulnerable to blood clots in later years. The new stents solved one problem, but they may have created another. This supports Robin Hanson's view that beneficial medicine is offset by... MORE
November 24, 2006
Economics of Health Care
Bryan Caplan
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