Are US health care prices too high, too low, or some mix of the two?

In light of the major financial burden that health care places on many households and the limited competition in many health care markets, some policymakers and experts have called for governments to play a larger role in determining the prices of health care services, such as by regulating those prices or introducing a public option. The late Uwe Reinhardt wrote and spoke for many years in support of a larger role for the public sector in determining health care prices.

On September 9, the USC-Brookings Schaeffer Initiative for Health Policy hosted, in honor of Uwe’s work, the first of three webinars examining whether a larger public role is appropriate.

The event also featured introductory remarks that will place the full webinar series in the context of Uwe’s long work on this topic. The event opened with Leonard Schaeffer, USC Sol Price School of Public Policy professor and Judge Robert Maclay Widney chair, who knew Uwe well over a long period, followed by Richard Besser, the president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. Tsung-Mei Cheng, Uwe’s wife and colleague, who in recent years has written about initiatives in Germany and Taiwan to constrain health care prices, spoke about Uwe’s thinking on these issues.

Viewers can submit question for panelists by emailing events@brookings.edu or via Twitter with #HealthCarePrices.