Wanting It All: The Challenge of Reforming the U.S. Health Care System
Conference Series 50
June 15–17, 2005
Editor: Jane Sneddon Little
Conference volume published in 2007.
How should we value – and pay for – health care? How can we ensure that medical progress continues unabated and that its blessings are equitably distributed? How do we prevent future health care commitments from absorbing resources that might better be spent on other important components of current and future well-being? Finally, is the key to maintaining balance among these goals to be found in better functioning markets, better regulation, better information, better IT management, or in a better understanding of human behavior?
This conference brought together economists, health practitioners, and policymakers to explore the best ways to measure, finance, and distribute the benefits of modern health care.
Contents
Entire Proceedings (335 pages, 667K) 
1. Introduction
Reforming the U.S. Health Care System: Where There’s a Will, There Could be a Way
Jane Sneddon Little and Teresa Foy Romano
2. Understanding the Political Challenge
The Politics of U.S. Health System Reform
Theodore R. Marmor
3. Defining the Health Care Challenge
What Is Good Care, and What Is Bad?
David M. Cutler, with discussions by Richard G. Frank, William D. Nordhaus, and Kieke G. H. Okma
4. The U.S. Health Care System under Managed Care: A Case Study
The U.S. Experience with Managed Care and Managed Competition
Alain C. Enthoven, with discussions by Michael E. Chernew and Sherry A.M. Glied
5. How the U.S. Health Care System Affects U.S. Labor Markets
The U.S. Health Care System and Labor Markets
Brigitte C. Madrian, with discussion by Henry S. FarberEmployer-Funded Health Care and Labor Markets: An Insider’s View
Robert S. Galvin, M.D.
6. The U.S. Health Care System and U.S. Fiscal Stability
It’s Health Care, Stupid! Why Control of Health Care Spending Is Vital for Long-Term Fiscal Stability
Henry J. Aaron, with discussion by Mark V. Pauly, C. Eugene Steuerle, and Alan R. Weil
7. Reform Options: Matching the Tools with the Goals
Will the United States Continue to Allocate a Growing Proportion of Its GDP to Health Care?
Stuart H. Altman, with discussion by Judith Feder, David O. Meltzer, M.D., and Joseph P. Newhouse
8. Policy Debate: Reforming the U.S. Health Care System, the Road Ahead
Economic Perspectives on Health Information Technology
David J. Brailer, M.D.Reforming the U.S. Health Care System: Improving Coverage, Quality, and Efficiency
Karen DavisHealth Financing: Challenges and Opportunities, Coverage and Cost
James J. Mongan, M.D.
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