Health Care in America: How to Fix a Troubled System

Doctors, patients, employers, and elected officials agree that America’s health care system is seriously flawed, but every proposed solution generates only limited support, while the status quo—everyone’s second choice—wins out almost every time.

Health care now accounts for one-seventh of the U.S. economy, and that percentage is projected to grow rapidly over the next decade as new therapies proliferate and the population ages. Despite rising spending, health insurance coverage is shrinking, and red tape is increasing. Are the benefits of this enormous and cumbersome system worth the price? Could the nation get more for its 1.6 trillion health care dollars than it does?

Harvard economist David Cutler, the author of Your Money or Your Life: Strong Medicine for America’s Health Care System (Oxford University Press, 2004), will present findings from his new book, and a panel of experts will discuss Cutler’s proposals and offer their own ideas for reform.