Hospitals' Smoker Non-Hiring Controversy: An Economic Perspective

In his new blog, University of Pennsylvania Wharton School professor and nationally-renowned health economist Mark Pauly writes that the recent controversy about the ethics of hospitals' refusal to hire smokers was "understandably couched in the framework of ethics." And then he goes on to point out why these ethical arguments are "factually dubious."

The Real Costs of Hospital Care

In a video interview with Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholar Chileshe Nkonde-Price, MD, health economist Mark Pauly discusses the price of hospital care. The issue that has been much in the news in the wake of a special issue of Time magazine that published an extensive report about the little-known systems hospitals use to set prices.

Public vs. Private Funding for Health Care in Developing Countries

It's puzzling that international public health experts generally regard the emergence of a private health care sector in developing countries as "worrisome," said health economist Mark Pauly. The Penn professor chaired a panel on the subject at a World Bank conference in Washington. The conference debated the pros and cons of expanding private health insurance in developing nations, and spotlighted mixed public-private models.

Insurance & Behavioral Economics: How Buyers, Sellers, Regulators Get It Wrong

Mark Pauly discusses his new book that explores the often oddly illogical behavior of insurance buyers and sellers. Co-authored with fellow Penn professor Howard Kunreuther, the work is, according to the wryly humorous Pauly, "a rogue's gallery of insurance anomalies."

Making Sense of New Medical Loss Ratio Rule

Economist Mark Pauly has been studying insurance markets for nearly forty years. And like others in his field, he's kept a close eye on the media flurry surrounding the federal government's release of its final adjustments to the medical-loss-ratio restrictions it imposed on the industry as part of the Affordable Care Act's implementation.

What Kind of Health Insurance Do Health Economists Buy?

Mark Pauly is one of four top U.S. health economists who discuss the kinds of health insurance that THEY buy for themselves. He explains why he selected his employer's most expensive coverage plan.

Physician Income in The New Age of Health Reform Frugality

"U.S. physicians don't know what hit them," said health economist Mark Pauly as he kicked off a University of Pennsylvania roundtable discussion about doctors' income and prospects under the Affordable Care Act. He points out that the growth in physician income hasn't kept up with inflation and, while doctors are well off, they're not getting better off in an era focused on dramatically cutting health care costs.

Is Health Care Reform a Prescription for Trouble?

Using two decades of data, University of Pennsylvania health care professors Mark Pauly and Lawton R. Burns dissected the cost-cutting component of the Affordable Health Care Act. While the title of their research paper, published in Health Affairs, was "Accountable Care Organizations May Have Difficulty Avoiding the Failures of Integrated Delivery Networks of the 1990s," the authors have offered another, shorter title: "Doomed to Fail?"

A PSA Screening Quandary: Who Should Get It, Who Should Pay?

Wharton School health economist and LDI Senior Fellow Mark Pauly characterizes the recent U.S. Preventive Services Task Force PSA announcement as "a masterpiece of double negatives and doubletalk."

Mark Pauly on the Individual Mandate

One of the most important -- and contentious -- elements of the Affordable Care Act is its "individual mandate," or legal requirement that everyone purchase health insurance. In this Knowledge@Wharton interview, Penn health economist Mark Pauly points out the economic issues and implications of that requirement.

Mark Pauly: How to Make The Trade-Off Among Health Care Quality, Quantity and Cost

The Affordable Care Act, with its subsidies, demonstrations, commissions, and study groups, embodies a considerable amount of regulatory and policy pressure on markets to improve the quality of health care. However, it is possible that this government-led movement will lead to a lot of talk about quality but not necessarily much improvement. A better strategy may be found through "disruptive innovation," a market-driven approach that has balanced cost and quality in other industries.