Starving the Hungry Tapeworm: How Businessmen May Reform Health Care Cost
Year: 2018
Type: article
Abstract: In 2016, U.S. health care spending reached $3.3 trillion, a figure representing 17.9% of the nation's gross domestic product. Sadly, the skyrocketing cost of health care is not headline news. Rather, as aptly summarized by Warren Buffett, “The ballooning costs of health care act as a hungry tapeworm on the American economy” (1). Like a tapeworm, our health care cost problem degrades the overall vitality of our economy. Therefore, news that the CEOs of Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway, and JPMorgan Chase are coming together to combat health care cost has been met with anticipation and skepticism (1): anticipation—because these business giants may help solve what ails our health system—but also skepticism—because what do highly successful entrepreneurs, investment bankers, and money managers know about health care? Could blindness to the usual approaches to reducing health care cost be a strength?
Source: Annals of Internal Medicine
DOI: 10.7326/m18-0432
Authors: Laurence F. McMahon, Vineet Chopra
Institution: Michigan Medicine
Language: English
Subfield: Economics and Econometrics
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2806725865