The Economics of US Health Care Policy

In this book, Phelps and Parente explore the US health care system and set out the case for its reform. They trace the foundations of today?s system, and show how distortions in the incentives facing participants in the health care market could be corrected in order to achieve lower costs, a higher quality of care, a higher level of patient safety, and a more efficient allocation of health care resources.

Phelps and Parente propose novel yet economically robust changes to US tax law affecting health insurance coverage and related issues. They also discuss a series of specific improvements to Medicare and Medicaid, and assess potential innovations that affect all of health care, including chronic disease management, fraud and abuse detection, information technology, and other key issues.

The Economics of US Health Care Policy will be illuminating reading for anyone with an interest in health policy, and will be a valuable supplementary text for courses in health economics and health policy, including for students without advanced training in economics.

PART 1: THE MARKET FOR PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE

Chapter 1: The Pivotal Role of Employer-Paid Health Insurance

Chapter 2: An Alternate Universe: Life Without the Tax Subsidy

Chapter 3: How To Get There From Here and Also Grow the Economy

Chapter 4: Who Might Support or Oppose Our Proposal?

Chapter 5: What Else Needs Fixing?

Chapter 6: Pre-Existing Conditions and the Individual Mandate

PART II – MEDICARE AND MEDICAID

Chapter 7: Understanding Medicare and Medicaid

Chapter 8: Rationalizing Medicare and Medicaid

Chapter 9: Further Discussion of Our Medicare and Medicaid Proposals

PART III – THINGS THAT AFFECT EVERYBODY

Chapter 10: Chronic Conditions

Chapter 11: Bringing Health Care Waste, Fraud, and Abuse Technology into the 21st Century

Chapter 12: Towards a Functional Electronic Health Record—Soon

Chapter 13: Maximizing the Promise of Accountable Care Organizations

Chapter 14: Getting Rid of Overstated Medical Bills

Chapter 15: Concluding Comments

Charles E. Phelps was elected to the Institute of Medicine (now the National Academy of Medicine) in 1991. From 1984 to 2010 he was on the faculty of the University of Rochester (NY), in the departments of economics, political science, and public health sciences, and he served for 13 years as Provost (Chief Academic Officer) and is University Professor and Provost Emeritus at the University of Rochester, USA.

Stephen T. Parente is Professor of Finance at Carlson School of Management, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, USA. In Washington DC, he has served as Governing Chair of the Health Care Cost Institute, a US Congressional Budget Office health advisor, a senior health policy advisor to Senator John McCain (R-AZ) and a legislative fellow for Senator John D. Rockefeller IV (D-WV).