We are all healthcare users at some point in our lives. For some, that happens much sooner than we expect.
In most developed nations, healthcare is consuming an ever-increasing proportion of GDP. Spending on healthcare in the US is up nearly ten-fold in real terms since 1960. As populations age and our ability to provide effective intervention increases, healthcare inflation tops the list of consumer goods and services, far outstripping retail price indices.
Yet despite spending so much, there is strong evidence that we aren’t getting good value. Add to this the fact that healthcare is an incredibly opaque industry. Few people, including those who work in it, can articulate precisely how their countries’ health care system works, much less why it is better or worse than other healthcare systems.
This information gap, even amongst policymakers, drives emotional and partisan views of healthcare that makes true introspection and reform challenging.
Some of the questions that interest me which I plan to write about include:
- Why is healthcare so expensive?
- Why are prescription drugs so expensive?
- What drives value in healthcare?
- What is the best path to achieving universal healthcare?
- How do we promote innovation in healthcare?
If these are interesting questions and you have a unique perspective, I’d love to hear from you.