Wanting It All: The Challenge of Reforming the U.S. Health Care System Wanting It All: The Challenge of Reforming the U.S. Health Care System

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June 15-17, 2005

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) pdf

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

Understanding the Political Challenge

The Politics of U.S. Health System Reform
Theodore R. Marmor

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

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

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. Farber

Employer-Funded Health Care and Labor Markets: An Insider’s View
Robert S. Galvin, M.D.

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

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

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 Davis

Health Financing: Challenges and Opportunities, Coverage and Cost
James J. Mongan, M.D.