US

US Healthcare: Prices vs Quantity and Quality

The US spends roughly 17% of GDP on healthcare, according to the OECD; most European countries spend less than 12% of GDP.

Higher quality-adjusted US healthcare prices contribute relatively more to the extra US spending than does the combination of higher quantity and quality of US care (interpreting quantity and quality to reflect both greater American healthcare needs due to underlying population health and the delivery of more or better healthcare services to Americans).

Responses weighted by each expert's confidence

Participant University Vote Confidence Bio/Vote History
Acemoglu
Daron Acemoglu
MIT
Strongly Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
The US healthcare system is badly broken. Of course there are other factors, but US has lower life expectancy than Greece, Costa Rica, Chile
Alesina
Alberto Alesina
Harvard Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Altonji
Joseph Altonji
Yale Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Auerbach
Alan Auerbach
Berkeley
Agree
3
Bio/Vote History
Autor
David Autor
MIT
Uncertain
1
Bio/Vote History
Baicker
Katherine Baicker
University of Chicago
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
Banerjee
Abhijit Banerjee
MIT
Agree
7
Bio/Vote History
Bertrand
Marianne Bertrand
Chicago
Strongly Agree
4
Bio/Vote History
Brunnermeier
Markus Brunnermeier
Princeton
Agree
7
Bio/Vote History
Chetty
Raj Chetty
Harvard Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Chevalier
Judith Chevalier
Yale
Uncertain
8
Bio/Vote History
Prices are ABSOLUTELY a contributor to the %GDP gap between US and Europe, but I hesitated to commit to "relatively more" in the question.
-see background information here
Cutler
David Cutler
Harvard
Uncertain
8
Bio/Vote History
The single biggest contributor is admin costs. This shows up as prices, but should be separate. 1) Admin; 2) Prices; 3) Quantity
-see background information here
Deaton
Angus Deaton
Princeton
Strongly Agree
10
Bio/Vote History
Duffie
Darrell Duffie
Stanford
Uncertain
1
Bio/Vote History
Edlin
Aaron Edlin
Berkeley
Agree
7
Bio/Vote History
Eichengreen
Barry Eichengreen
Berkeley
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
Einav
Liran Einav
Stanford
Disagree
7
Bio/Vote History
Fair
Ray Fair
Yale
Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
Finkelstein
Amy Finkelstein
MIT
Disagree
7
Bio/Vote History
Goldberg
Pinelopi Goldberg
Yale Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Goolsbee
Austan Goolsbee
Chicago
Strongly Agree
9
Bio/Vote History
Greenstone
Michael Greenstone
University of Chicago
Uncertain
6
Bio/Vote History
Prices are a factor but evidence on relative magnitudes is not decisive
Hall
Robert Hall
Stanford
Agree
8
Bio/Vote History
Talented and trained people make much higher incomes in the US than in Europe, and health care is human-capital intensive.
Hart
Oliver Hart
Harvard
Agree
6
Bio/Vote History
Holmström
Bengt Holmström
MIT
Agree
2
Bio/Vote History
Hoxby
Caroline Hoxby
Stanford
Uncertain
10
Bio/Vote History
I am confident that this is an extremely hard question to answer for many reasons. I have views but would be persuadable by better evidence.
Hoynes
Hilary Hoynes
Berkeley
Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
Judd
Kenneth Judd
Stanford
Agree
3
Bio/Vote History
Kaplan
Steven Kaplan
Chicago Booth
Uncertain
6
Bio/Vote History
Kashyap
Anil Kashyap
Chicago Booth
No Opinion
Bio/Vote History
Klenow
Pete Klenow
Stanford
Agree
3
Bio/Vote History
The U.S. seems to incentivize a disproportionate share of research through higher markups.
-see background information here
Levin
Jonathan Levin
Stanford Did Not Answer Bio/Vote History
Maskin
Eric Maskin
Harvard
Agree
6
Bio/Vote History
Nordhaus
William Nordhaus
Yale
Agree
6
Bio/Vote History
Saez
Emmanuel Saez
Berkeley
Strongly Agree
8
Bio/Vote History
Samuelson
Larry Samuelson
Yale
Agree
8
Bio/Vote History
Scheinkman
José Scheinkman
Columbia University
Uncertain
5
Bio/Vote History
Schmalensee
Richard Schmalensee
MIT
Agree
3
Bio/Vote History
Shapiro
Carl Shapiro
Berkeley
Agree
3
Bio/Vote History
Shimer
Robert Shimer
University of Chicago
Uncertain
1
Bio/Vote History
Stock
James Stock
Harvard
Disagree
1
Bio/Vote History
Thaler
Richard Thaler
Chicago Booth
Agree
7
Bio/Vote History
Udry
Christopher Udry
Northwestern
Strongly Agree
5
Bio/Vote History
The evidence is pretty strong that prices drive much of the difference.
-see background information here