Health Affairs

Health Affairs, 23, no. 3 (2004): 10-25 doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.23.3.10 © 2004 by Project HOPE	New Online   Reinhardt: Post-Summit   Report from the Summit   President's Reform Proposal   Rising Medicare Costs   Spending for Immigrants   $2.5 Trillion U.S. Health Tab   Child Obesity Briefing

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Costs & Competition

U.S. Health Care Spending In An International Context

Uwe E. Reinhardt, Peter S. Hussey and Gerard F. Anderson

Using the most recent data on health spending published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), we explore reasons why U.S. health spending towers over that of other countries with much older populations. Prominent among the reasons are higher U.S. per capita gross domestic product (GDP) as well as a highly complex and fragmented payment system that weakens the demand side of the health sector and entails high administrative costs. We examine the economic burden that health spending places on the U.S. economy. We comment on attempts by U.S. policy-makers to increase the prices foreign health systems pay for U.S. prescription drugs.

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