Crisis of abundance : rethinking how we pay for health care / Arnold Kling.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kling, Arnold S.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Medical care, Cost of--United States.

Medical care, Cost of.

United States.

Health care reform--United States.

Health care reform.

Medical economics--United States.

Medical economics.

Physical Description:

ix, 110 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Washington, D.C. : Cato Institute, [2006]

Summary:

In Crisis of Abundance: Rethinking How We Pay for Health Care, economist Arnold Kling argues that the way we finance health care matches neither the needs of patients nor the way medicine is practiced. The availability of ""premium medicine,"" combined with patients who are insulated from costs, means Americans are not getting maximum value per dollar spent. Using basic economic concepts, Kling demonstrates that a greater reliance on private saving and market innovation would eliminate waste, contain health care costs and improve the quality of care. Kling proposes gradually shifting responsibility for health care for the elderly away from taxpayers and back to the individual. ""The idea of matching the health care funding system to needs is very simple,"" Kling writes. ""The very poor and the very sick need help paying for health care. The rest of us do not.

Contents:

1 The Rise of Premium Medicine 7

2 Three Health Care Narratives 19

3 Dollars and Decisions 33

4 No Perfect Health Care System 45

5 Insulation vs. Insurance 51

6 Matching Funding Systems to Needs 63

7 Markets and Evolution 77

8 Policy Ideas 85.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 97-103) and index.

ISBN:

1930865899

OCLC:

65065433

Publisher Number:

9781930865891