Many pharmaceutical treatments now for cancer and other illnesses are in the seven figures per year, say $100,000 a year or more. "We have this crazy system right now where pharmaceutical companies can raise the price 10, 20% on existing drugs," he says. The hospital system is uncompetitive partly because we've given existing hospitals the ludicrous ability to restrain competitors from entering their market,. He adds: "You would think as an abstract and insurance companies ought to not pay for drugs that don't give you the benefits"
Economist Ed Dolan of the Niskanen Center talks about employer-based health insurance with EconTalk host Russ Roberts. Dolan discusses how unusual it is relative to other countries that so many Americans get their health insurance through their employer and the implications of that phenomenon for the structure of the health insurance market. Dolan explores the drawbacks of this structure and makes the case for what he calls Universal Catastrophic Coverage.