The Problem of Diminishing Marginal Benefit in Healthcare

Why is it so bad for health spending to increase? After all, health care is good and noble. By the way, it also creates good-paying jobs. My answer, excerpted from Segment 6 of my Video Series, is that healthcare spending is good, of course, but only up to a point. Past a certain point it … Continue reading The Problem of Diminishing Marginal Benefit in Healthcare →

Response to Peter Orszag: Efficiency Is Not Enough!

Economist Peter Orszag, who blogs regularly on the economics of healthcare, recently highlighted a survey of healthcare CEOs conducted by his firm Lazard. The survey showed that these CEOs see that “Healthcare is reforming, just not in Washington.” Business (small and large) is rightly fed up with Washington’s petty partisan tinkering with the healthcare system. … Continue reading Response to Peter Orszag: Efficiency Is Not Enough! →

Will New Trump-GOP Tax Plan Trigger PAYGO Cuts to Medicare?

The Trump-GOP tax plan will add to the national debt by $1 trillion (Joint Committee on Taxation) or $1.4 trillion (Congressional Budget Office). Under the pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) law, Congress will need to make a choice to cut Medicare or to allow the increase of the national debt. The PAYGO law says that the revenue shortfall … Continue reading Will New Trump-GOP Tax Plan Trigger PAYGO Cuts to Medicare? →

FAQ: How Would Cost-Benefit Analysis Be Used to Restrain Healthcare Costs? – The Case of an Expensive New Cholesterol Drug

Executive Summary Some experts say that cost-benefit analysis is the way to restrain soaring healthcare costs and reform the system. How exactly would cost-benefit analysis work? This blog argues: Forget the caviar. But keep costworthy care on the menu. To explain what this means, let’s look at the case of Repatha (evolocumab), the new cholesterol-lowering drug, … Continue reading FAQ: How Would Cost-Benefit Analysis Be Used to Restrain Healthcare Costs? – The Case of an Expensive New Cholesterol Drug →

FAQ: Could a Healthcare Reform Plan Designed for a Single State Work at a National Level?

Could an approach used 23 years ago by a single state, targeted only at its Medicaid program, be applied on a national scale for reforming the vast U.S. healthcare system? The answer is Yes. Oregon in 1994 decided to cut services instead of cutting patients in response to a Medicaid budget squeeze. The governor used … Continue reading FAQ: Could a Healthcare Reform Plan Designed for a Single State Work at a National Level? →