Exploring the Role of Private Insurance in Improving Healthcare Outcomes

The US spends a lot more on healthcare than most other high-income countries. But the US doesn’t have universal health coverage, and performs poorly on life expectancy, death rates for avoidable or treatable conditions, and maternal and infant mortality. Financial incentives shape the kind of healthcare that patients are offered, from the drugs they’re prescribed to the procedures they receive. So what would it take to fix US healthcare? In this episode, we hear from Chicago Booth’s Matt Notowidigdo, in the second of two podcasts about his new book, Better Health Economics: An Introduction for Everyone, co-written with Boston University’s Tal Gross.