Health Care Spending Growth and the Future of U.S. Tax Rates

This brief paper explores the likely effects of government-imposed global budget caps, such as those in the Clinton administration proposal, on health care spending. It argues that health reform proposals that guarantee universal access to a basic package of medical benefits create a substantial new constituency for higher health care outlays. Political and potential legal pressures to expand rather than limit the set of guaranteed benefits, coupled with an expansion of the number of individuals with health insurance coverage, make it unlikely that global budget targets will succeed in reducing the rate of health care spending growth.

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Health Care Spending Growth

Handbook of Health Economics ◽

10.1016/b978-0-444-53592-4.00001-3 ◽

2011 ◽

pp. 1-43 ◽

Cited By ~ 27

Author(s):

Michael E. Chernew ◽

Joseph P. Newhouse

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Health Care Spending ◽

Spending Growth

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Vital Signs: U.S. Health Care Spending Growth Continues to Decelerate

Clinical Neurology News ◽

10.1016/s1553-3212(10)70024-8 ◽

2010 ◽

Vol 6 (2) ◽

pp. 2

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Vital Signs ◽

Health Care Spending ◽

Spending Growth

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Health Care Reform: Lessons from the Past, Lessons for the Future

The Journal of Law Medicine & Ethics ◽

10.1111/j.1748-720x.2008.00329.x ◽

2008 ◽

Vol 36 (4) ◽

pp. 725-727 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Gail R. Wilensky

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Patient Safety ◽

Health Insurance ◽

Health Care Reform ◽

The Political ◽

Health Care Spending ◽

Election Cycle ◽

The Past ◽

Obvious Reason ◽

The Future

We are well into the political season that guarantees the election of a new president. Actually, this season, the election cycle began in November 2006, as soon as the off-year election ended. Not surprisingly, health care and reforming health care are major issues for the election — although somewhat less important than they were before late 2007.I use the phrase “not surprisingly” because there are easily understandable reasons why health care tends to be an election issue whenever we are electing a new president. One obvious reason is that, for several decades, we have been plagued by sizeable numbers of people without health insurance and even more importantly, by unsustainable increases in health care spending and substantial numbers of people experiencing patient safety and clinical appropriateness problems. I regard the unsustainable spending and safety and quality problems as especially important because they affect all of us — not just the 15% of the population that is without health insurance.

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When Worlds Collide: Medicine, Business, the Affordable Care Act and the Future of Health Care in the U.S.

The Journal of Law Medicine & Ethics ◽

10.1111/jlme.12165 ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 42 (4) ◽

pp. 420-430 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Andrew C. Wicks ◽

Adrian A. C. Keevil

Keyword(s):

Health Care ◽

Affordable Care Act ◽

Health Care Spending ◽

Significant Shift ◽

The Great Depression ◽

The Future ◽

New Thinking ◽

The Affordable Care Act ◽

Care Costs ◽

The U.S

Many observers claim that business has become a powerful force in medicine and that the future of health care cannot escape that reality, even though some scholars lament it. The U.S. recently experienced the most devastating recession since the Great Depression. As health care costs rise, we face additional pressure to rein in health care spending. We also have important new legislation that could well mark a significant shift in how health care is provided and who has access to care, namely the Affordable Care Act (ACA). These changes underscore the need to bring new thinking to the conversation about health care and to move beyond conceptual and practical obstacles that inhibit our progress. In this paper we do not to claim to have solutions. Rather, our aim is to try to identify some obstacles to fostering a better conversation about the future of health care and to envisioning a better health care system.

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