Celebrating humanity's flourishing through the spread of capitalism and the rule of law
01 Apr 2026 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, econometerics, health economics Tags: health insurance
Health care spending had been a rising share of US GDP for decades, but since about 2010, the rate of increase seemed to level out. David M. Cutler and Lev Klarnet address “Has the United States bent the health care cost curve?” (Brookings Papers on Economic Activity, Spring 2026, readable overview of paper at link, including a…
Bending the Curve of Health Care Costs (At Last?)
06 Dec 2025 Leave a comment
in health economics, politics - USA Tags: health insurance
As Craig Garthwaite and Timothy Layton point out: “Originally a small, inexpensive safety-net program, Medicaid has grown into a major national health-insurance provider, covering nearly one in four Americans and more people than the public health insurance programs of the United Kingdom, Germany, or France.” They review the program and offer some recommendations in “Coverage Isn’t…
Medicaid: What It Has Become
06 Oct 2025 Leave a comment
in health economics, politics - USA Tags: health insurance
Paul Krugman has a recent post defending the exchange subsidies and tax credits that the Republicans wish to cut, talking with Jonathan Cohn about the “premium apocalypse” (and here). Whether or not one agrees with Krugman normatively, the arguments if anything convince me that Obamacare probably is not financially or politically stable. To recap some […]
The unraveling of Obamacare?
04 Jul 2025 Leave a comment
in health economics, politics - USA Tags: health insurance
In the 2010s, it appeared that US health care expenditures as a share of GDP had peaked. But there group at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services that continually carries out and updates these estimates and forecasts. Their most recent projections suggest that US health spending is about to start rising again as a…
US Health Care Expenditures: An Ominous Trend Returns?
10 May 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, health economics Tags: health insurance
It may seem obvious that health insurance helps health, but very few cause-and-effect conclusions are obvious to economists. For example, suppose that we just compared the health of everyone who has health insurance and everyone who doesn’t. It would be unsurprising to find that those with health insurance are healthier, but the two groups will…
How Can You Tell if Health Insurance Helps Health?
06 May 2025 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economic history, health economics, politics - USA Tags: Canada, health insurance
While healthcare in Canada’s single-payer health care system is technically free, its real price is measured in wait times. In 2023, the median wait time from a general practitioner’s referral to treatment reached 27.7 weeks—the longest ever and nearly triple the 9.3 weeks reported in 1993. (MuskegonPundit) To see this, think of “free” as…
The price of “free” healthcare is the wait
02 Apr 2025 Leave a comment
in health economics, politics - New Zealand Tags: health insurance
Last week doctors and Green MPs were criticising the use of private hospitals to cut surgical waiting lists. This week the numbers show that patients are winning from private care: Partnering with the private health sector is delivering better access and shorter wait times for elective treatment, Health Minister Simeon Brown. “Ensuring Kiwis have access […]
Patients win with private care
16 Dec 2024 1 Comment
in applied price theory, health economics, industrial organisation, survivor principle Tags: health insurance
First of all, insurance companies just don’t make that much profit. UnitedHealth Group, the company of which Brian Thompson’s UnitedHealthcare is a subsidiary, is the most valuable private health insurer in the country in terms of market capitalization, and the one with the largest market share. Its net profit margin is just 6.11%… That’s only about half of […]
Health insurance companies are not the main villain
31 Oct 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, health economics, politics - USA Tags: health insurance
Among the major issues not being discussed in the US presidential campaign are those facing the US healthcare system. The two main concerns are well-known. One is high cost. The US economy spends about $12,500 per person on health care in 2022, according to the OECD. The second- and third-highest countries, Switzerland and Germany, spend…
A Prescription for Fixing the US Healthcare System
28 Aug 2024 1 Comment
in economic history, economics of bureaucracy, health economics, industrial organisation, Marxist economics, politics - New Zealand, Public Choice, theory of the firm Tags: health insurance
Enough is enough. Former PMs Helen Clark and Jacinda Ardern should come clean about how they were the Chief Architects of the omni-shambles that has become our health system. They should take responsibility for the folks who suffered from long waiting lists and declining health-care quality, some of whom didn’t make it. The person who…
Former Labour PM’s Clark and Ardern wrecked NZ’s Health System: they should be held accountable for the lives that have been lost
06 Mar 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, comparative institutional analysis, development economics, growth miracles, health economics, industrial organisation Tags: health insurance, Singapore
Besides the usual, that is. Max Thilo of the UK has a new and excellent study on this, here is one excerpt from the foreword by Lord Warner: Second, and critical, the Singaporeans are not fixated on delivering services from acute hospitals – the most expensive part of any healthcare system because of its fixed […]
What can be learned from Singaporean health care institutions?
28 Feb 2024 Leave a comment
in applied price theory, economics of information, entrepreneurship, health economics Tags: adverse selection, health insurance, moral hazard, screening, self-selection, signaling
Genetic testing identifies disease risk, enabling individuals to dodge environmental triggers, optimize treatments, and improve planning. Yet, the fear of increased insurance premiums deters many from undergoing tests. Genetic testing offers societal benefits but also presents significant distributional challenges. To address this, my 1994 paper proposed the idea of genetic insurance. For a small fee […]
Genetic Insurance
10 Dec 2023 Leave a comment
in health economics, politics - USA Tags: Canada, health insurance
Because of misguided government policies, health care in America is expensive and inefficient. But it’s always possible to have a system that is even worse. I have often cited the United Kingdom, which has genuine socialism (government employs the doctors and runs the hospitals). However, as part of an ongoing series about “great moments in […]
Another Great Moment in Government-Run Healthcare
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