Never a Lost Cause: Could American Healthcare Learn from Europe?

Join economist Amy Finkelstein, co-author of ‘We’ve Got You Covered,’ and Rohit Krishnan for a SuperSalon discussion on tearing down and rebuilding American health care system!

The US had the world’s first national compulsory health insurance law in 1798, signed by President John Adams. But now, the American healthcare system is broken, leaving millions uninsured or underinsured while costs skyrocket. In what’s the world’s richest country, it’s fair to wonder why this is the case.

Authors Liran Einav and Amy Finkelstein say it’s time to tear it down and start over with truly universal coverage. In their new book “We’ve Got You Covered,” they argue that universal coverage is needed to fulfill our civilization’s implicit social contract to provide essential medical care.

In this SuperSalon we will discuss:

• Why incremental patches have failed and systematic reform is needed
• The case for automatic basic coverage, or what does “essential care” mean in our society?
• What’s special about the US? And what should we learn from the heterogeneity of healthcare models around the world, even among the nationalized ones?
• On philosophical arguments around universal coverage and encouraging innovation

Bring your questions as we dive into the economics and politics of reforming American health care from the ground up!

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Recommended readings:

• Introduction and Conclusion of “We’ve Got You Covered“
• Meeting Basic Health Care Needs – The Hamilton Project at Brookings