Law Commons^™

Fairness In Health Care: Who Pays? Who Benefits?, Clark C. Havighurst

Clark C Havighurst

Abstract: Lower- and middle-income Americans with private health coverage pay not only to protect their own families’ health but also to support a vast health care enterprise that primarily benefits others. The system is able to finance itself in part because U.S.-style health insurance greatly amplifies price-gouging opportunities for health care firms with true market power; even though the resulting excess profits often cross-subsidize seemingly desirable activities, the substantial cost burden falls ultimately on premium payers like a severely regressive (i.e., unfair) “head tax.” Lower-income premium payers also bear excessive costs for their own health care. For one thing, they …