Working Paper: NBER ID: w30854
Authors: Katherine Baicker; Amitabh Chandra; Mark Shepard
Abstract: The United States spends substantially more on health care than most developed countries, yet leaves a greater share of the population uninsured. We suggest that incremental insurance expansions focused on addressing market failures will propagate inefficiencies and are not likely to facilitate active policy decisions that align with societal coverage goals. By instead defining a basic bundle of services that is publicly financed for all, while allowing individuals to purchase additional coverage, policymakers could both expand coverage and maintain incentives for innovation, fostering universal access to innovative care in an affordable system.
Keywords: health insurance; universal coverage; market failures; social floor
JEL Codes: H4; H51; I13
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| market failures (D52) | low takeup rates (J68) |
| high premiums (G52) | low takeup rates (J68) |
| adverse selection (D82) | low takeup rates (J68) |
| policy design (G52) | access to care (I14) |
| social floor (D16) | reduction of uninsurance rates (I13) |