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
Responses weighted by each expert's confidence
| Participant | University | Vote | Confidence | Bio/Vote History |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 Philippe Aghion |
Harvard | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
|
|
||||
 Franklin Allen |
Imperial College London | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
|
||||
 Pol Antras |
Harvard | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
The question is far from my field of expertise so I don't have strong views. But I can't wait to hear what the experts have to say about it!
|
||||
 Timothy J. Besley |
LSE | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
|
|
||||
 Olivier Blanchard |
Peterson Institute | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
Example: Income of US doctors many times income of European doctors, with no evidence of difference in quality.
|
||||
 Nicholas Bloom |
Stanford | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
Drugs prices are much higher in the US, but that induces more R&D and a strong US Pharma industry. So that spending is not obviously wasted.
|
||||
 Richard William Blundell |
University College London | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
|
|
||||
 Agnès Bénassy-Quéré |
Paris School of Economics | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
|
||||
 Elena Carletti |
Bocconi | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
|
|
||||
 Jean-Pierre Danthine |
Paris School of Economics | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
|
||||
 Paul De Grauwe |
LSE | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
I am not expert enough to have opinion on this
|
||||
 Jan Eeckhout |
UPF Barcelona | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
Panelist meant to Strongly Agree (misread question). OECD # of physicians/cap 50% > US. Licensing, entry barriers in US mkt for physicians.
|
||||
 Ernst Fehr |
Universität Zurich | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
|
|
||||
 Xavier Freixas |
Barcelona GSE | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
|
||||
 Nicola Fuchs-Schündeln |
Goethe-Universität Frankfurt | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
|
||||
 Jordi Galí |
Barcelona GSE | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
|
||||
 Luis Garicano |
LSE | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
Prices are obviously key. But even more important is overtreament, due to both carrots (fee per service) and sticks (personal liability)
|
||||
 Francesco Giavazzi |
Bocconi | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
|
||||
 Rachel Griffith |
University of Manchester | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
|
||||
 Veronica Guerrieri |
Chicago Booth | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
|
||||
 Luigi Guiso |
Einaudi Institute for Economics and Finance | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
France has an excellent health care systems and costs much less than the us
|
||||
 Patrick Honohan |
Trinity College Dublin | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
|
||||
 Henrik Kleven |
Princeton | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
|
|
||||
 Jan Pieter Krahnen |
Goethe University Frankfurt | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
|
||||
 Per Krusell |
Stockholm University | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
I'm quite uninformed on this issue!
|
||||
 Botond Kőszegi |
Central European University | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
|
||||
 Eliana La Ferrara |
Harvard Kennedy | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
|
|
||||
 Christian Leuz |
Chicago Booth | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
Lots evidence: It's not quantity; price is main&biggest factor; only Q is whether care intensity (the other big driver) is quality or price.
-see background information here -see background information here -see background information here -see background information here |
||||
 Costas Meghir |
Yale | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
|
|
||||
 Peter Neary |
Oxford | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
More fragmented demand side (mainly private rather than public suppliers) a factor; also looser regulation on marketing (not R&D)
|
||||
 Kevin O'Rourke |
Oxford | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
|
|
||||
 Marco Pagano |
Università di Napoli Federico II | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
|
||||
 Lubos Pastor |
Chicago Booth | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
|
||||
 Torsten Persson |
Stockholm University | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
|
||||
 Christopher Pissarides |
London School of Economics and Political Science | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
The US is an outlier in OECD data plots, far more expensive than the rest. Disease and death rates are not better than elsewhere
|
||||
 Richard Portes |
London Business School | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
|
||||
 Canice Prendergast |
Chicago Booth | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
|
||||
 Lucrezia Reichlin |
London Business School | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
|
|
||||
 Rafael Repullo |
CEMFI | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
|
||||
 Hélène Rey |
London Business School | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
The main difference between US and Europe is that Europe has universal healthcare and it is administered in a more cost effective way.
|
||||
 Antoinette Schoar |
MIT | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
|
||||
 John Van Reenen |
LSE | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
My work shows that prices are major driver of private US healthcare spending. This is related to market power of hospitals
-see background information here |
||||
 John Vickers |
Oxford | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
|
||||
 Hans-Joachim Voth |
University of Zurich | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
|
||||
 Beatrice Weder di Mauro |
The Graduate Institute, Geneva | Did Not Answer | Bio/Vote History | |
|
|
||||
 Karl Whelan |
University College Dublin | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
The US spends more on healthcare than European countries but covers a small fraction of the population and has inferior health outcomes.
|
||||
 Charles Wyplosz |
The Graduate Institute Geneva | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
|
||||
 Fabrizio Zilibotti |
Yale University | Bio/Vote History | ||
|
|
||||
