How Global Trade Can Rein in Health Costs

Rising healthcare costs contribute to the ballooning US budget deficits, and the US has thus far resisted public health plans mandating universal coverage. Opening the US market to international competition could offer a means to disciplining the industry and reducing costs, explains economists Jagdish Bhagwati and Dean Baker for CNN Money, adding that “medical care of comparable quality is available at much lower prices elsewhere in the world.” Despite its high per-capita costs, the US has a low global ranking for life expectancy, with nearly 50 million uninsured. The massive size of the US health industry gives it political clout, with more incentives to protect careers and wages than reduce costs. The plan would dovetail conservative politicians’ calls for reduced regulations: Lifting licensing restrictions for clinicians, encouraging US patients to shop abroad for procedures and buying into other nations’ health care systems would help reduce costs. Trade that exports patients and importing caregivers could reduce costs. – YaleGlobal