title: U.S. health care spending in an international context.
abstract: 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. policymakers to increase the prices foreign health systems pay for U.S. prescription drugs.
authors.affiliation: Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey, USA. reinhard@princeton.edu
authors.forename: Uwe E
authors.initials: UE
authors.lastname: Reinhardt
authors.forename: Peter S
authors.initials: PS
authors.lastname: Hussey
authors.forename: Gerard F
authors.initials: GF
authors.lastname: Anderson
mesh_terms: D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000458:organization & administration*; D016527:Drug Costs; D014943:Global Health; D015276:Health Care Rationing; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D038622:Internationality; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D014481:United States