Stephen Lipstein, President and CEO of BJC Health Care: It may be an illusion to think there could ever be such a board either at the Fed or in the health world that is not subject to political pressure. "It's a nice idea, but I just don't know if it's real," says Lipstein. For more Econ Talk, go to econtalk.org where you can also comment on today's podcast.
Steven Lipstein, President and CEO of BJC HealthCare--a $3 billion hospital system in St. Louis, Missouri--talks with EconTalk host Russ Roberts about the economics of hospitals. They discuss pricing, the advantages and disadvantages of specialization in modern medical care, and culture and governance of non-profit hospitals vs. for-profit hospitals. At the end they talk about the positives and negatives of a national health board patterned after the Federal Reserve.