Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
National Health Expenditures reached $2.3 trillion, or $7,681 per person. This means that health care services made up 16.2% of the economy. Where did these dollars go? The CBO summarizes where America spends these funds. Source: CBO Long Term Budget Outlook, June 2010.
In America, your health care expenses are taken care of when you get older…right? We have Medicare after all…shouldn’t that pay for all my healthcare expenses? Not according to a recent article from Yahoo! Finance. Here are some of the health care costs retirees face: Part B Premiums: For most people retiring in 2010, the…
From the CMS Office of the Actuary: U.S. health care spending growth decelerated in 2008, increasing 4.4 percent compared to 6.0 percent in 2007, as spending growth slowed for nearly all health care goods and services, particularly for hospitals. Health spending growth for state and local and private sources of funds also slowed while federal…
America’s Health Ratings 2009 report ranks states according to overall healthiness. Mississippi is the least healthy state and Vermont is the healthiest state. The ranking methodology is available here. The following states are the least healthy (starting with the least healthy): Mississippi Oklahoma Alabama Louisiana South Carolina Nevada Tennessee Georgia West Virginia Kentucky The following…
Indonesia. Indonesia has the fourth largest population in the world and is the country with the largest Muslim population in the world. The island of Bali–where I went for my honeymoon–is the most famous island for tourists. Unlike most islands, it is largely Hindu. Java, where the capital of Jakarta is located, is the most…
The healthiest 76% of Medicare beneficiaries consume only 14% of program expenditures. The sickest 15% consume 75% of Medicare expenditures. Hughes et al. (2004).
Robert Fogel has a very well-written, well thought-out piece in The American on the topic of Forecasting the Cost of U.S. Healthcare. The article breaks down the forces affecting the future cost of medicine into five categories. The section below list each category which Dr. Fogel’s arguments and my comments mixed in. A likely continued…
From a NCPA report. From 1960 to 2006, GDP grew at 2.27% per year. Over this time period, GDP increased cumulatively by 174%. From 1960 to 2006, national health expenditures (NHE) grew at 4.79% per year. Over this time period, NHE increased cumulatively by 721%. For more details, see this chart.
Scientific American has an article ranking countries based on how conducive they are to biotechnology innovation. The criteria are based on what is best for biotech firms and not necessary what is best for society. The rankings are based on the following metrics: Intellectual Property (IP) protection. In this ranking, more IP protection is considered better. For…
One question that plagues health economists is estimating the price inflation of medical care. The output measured in these indices should be “health,” but this is often difficult to measure. Typically, economists simply look at the price increase of different inputs (e.g., the cost of a doctor’s visit, the cost of pharmaceuticals, the cost of…