Introduction to "Measuring and Modeling Health Care Costs"

Ana Aizcorbe, Colin Baker, Ernst R. Berndt & David M. Cutler
Published Date
Copyright 2018
ISBN 978-0-226-53085-7
Measuring and Modeling Health Care Costs
CONFERENCE HELD October 18-19, 2013
Book: Measuring and Modeling Health Care Costs
Book editors: Ana Aizcorbe, Colin Baker, Ernst R. Berndt & David M. Cutler
PUBLISHER: University of Chicago Press
Series: Studies in Income and Wealth

Medical care costs accounts for nearly 18% of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and 20% of government spending. As a country, we know a lot about where the medical dollar goes. Thirty-eight percent of medical care dollars are paid to hospitals, 31% is paid for professional services, 12% is for outpatient pharmaceuticals, and so forth. But this is not really what we value. The goal of medical care is not to poke, prod, or take pictures of our insides; rather, it is to improve our wellbeing. To really understand health care, we need to determine what it is doing for our health. Health accounting is not easy. Academics and statistical agencies have struggled with it for decades. Questions range from the mundane – how do colonoscopy prices vary across payers? – to the fundamental – to what extent is medical care improving the population’s health? With this much uncertainty about the value of medical care, it is incumbent on public and private researchers alike to regularly survey the landscape. What do we know about medical care costs and output? Where can we make improvements in our measurement systems? What areas remain unexplored? These issues are studied in this volume.

Download Purchase Book

Related

Projects

Conference on Research in Income and Wealth

More from NBER

In addition to working papers, the NBER disseminates affiliates’ latest findings through a range of free periodicals — the NBER Reporter, the NBER Digest, the Bulletin on Retirement and Disability, the Bulletin on Health, and the Bulletin on Entrepreneurship — as well as online conference reports, video lectures, and interviews.

2024, 16th Annual Feldstein Lecture, Cecilia E. Rouse," Lessons for Economists from the Pandemic" cover slide
2024, 16th Annual Feldstein Lecture, Cecilia E. Rouse," Lessons for Economists from the Pandemic"
  • Feldstein Lecture
Cecilia Rouse, president of the Brookings Institution and a professor at Princeton University, who chaired the Council...
2024 Methods Lecture, Susan Athey, "Analysis and Design of Multi-Armed Bandit Experiments and Policy Learning"
2024 Methods Lecture, Susan Athey, "Analysis and Design of Multi-Armed Bandit Experiments and Policy Learning"
  • Methods Lectures
Background Materials:backgroundAthey, Susan, Undral Byambadalai, Vitor Hadad, Sanath Kumar Krishnamurthy, Weiwen Leung...
2024, Economics of Social Security Panel, "Earnings Inequality and Payroll Tax Revenues"
2024, Economics of Social Security Panel, "Earnings Inequality and Payroll Tax Revenues"
  • Panel Discussion