Substack

Sunday, January 17, 2010

US health care costs and outcomes in perspective!


Click on the figure to enlarge

(HT: Baseline Scenario)

Update 1
It now emerges that rising health care expenditures contributed substantially towards the consumption binge and savings declines in the US since the nineties.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

How do we explain this. I cannot believe that it is gross inefficiency on the part of the US.
Might be..
1. Too many ouliers making up significant costs, like in terminally ill cancer patients spending a lot in their last few months.
2. US cross subsidising the health care of other countries by leading R&D.
3. Stress in society?
Any other ideas...?

Urbanomics said...

it is indeed gross inefficiency (transaction costs spent in avoiding adverse selection problems) and wasteful over-treatment (payment per procedure)... not outliers, patient profile, better quality, higher R&D or anything.

on all possible parameters, the American health care system lags behind that elsewhere and with outcomes that are worse off.

i have blogged extensively on all of these issues. can be seen in the labels for health care, insurance and health insurance