BEST OF: Marcia Weaver Explains Two Decades of Health Care Spending Effectiveness

Marcia Weaver from the University of Washington joins Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil to discuss whether we receive value for our high levels of health spending.

Show Notes

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This episode was originally published on July 19, 2022.

It's well known that the United States spends much more than other high-income countries on health care, the most recent estimates from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services published in Health Affairs show that nearly a fifth of US GDP is spent on health care services.

It's perhaps somewhat less well known that health outcomes lag those of many other countries. Life expectancy and infant mortality rates rank well below not just other high-income countries, but many middle-income countries as well.

The combination of these two facts leads many to ask the question, "Are we getting our money's worth for all that we spend on health care?"

However, simply establishing that the US spends a lot on health care and has sub-optimal health outcomes doesn't fully answer the question.

Marcia Weaver from the University of Washington joins A Health Podyssey to discuss whether we receive value for our high levels of health spending.

Weaver and coauthors published a paper in the July 2022 of Health Affairs examining the relationship between health spending and disease burden in the United States. They reached some optimistic conclusions based on the data.

Order the July 2022 issue of Health Affairs for research on Type 2 diabetes and more.

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What is A Health Podyssey?

Each week, Health Affairs' Rob Lott brings you in-depth conversations with leading researchers and influencers shaping the big ideas in health policy and the health care industry.

A Health Podyssey goes beyond the pages of the health policy journal Health Affairs to tell stories behind the research and share policy implications. Learn how academics and economists frame their research questions and journey to the intersection of health, health care, and policy. Health policy nerds rejoice! This podcast is for you.