The dominant theory in economics for centuries in the Western world has been the free market system, yet the ability of competitive markets to provide quality care has been a central point of recent debate. Extensive government regulation, though well-intentioned, adversely affects the overall health of Americans, inhibits medical innovation, and demands enormous tax-payer investment. The Initiative on Enabling Choice and Competition in Healthcare delivers cutting edge research on the efficiencies of competitiveness in the healthcare sector to demonstrate that free market forces can and do work to provide innovative, equitable, and high-quality care.
Our Vision
To be the leading university-based research center in free-market healthcare, promoting choice and competition to ensure greater access to existing care and new innovations.
Our Mission
To conduct evidence-based research and analyses on market-based choice and competition in the healthcare sector to lead to better-informed policy recommendations.
Working Papers
COVID-19 Biopharmaceutical Innovation and Industry Appropriation
The rapid emergence of vaccines and therapeutics in response to the onset of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic demonstrated the value of medical innovation. These advances not only led to enhanced patient welfare by reducing the disease’s mortality and morbidity but...
Policy Brief: The Impact of Price Setting at 9 Years on Small Molecule Innovation Under the Inflation Reduction Act
This policy brief provides a quantitative analysis of how the Inflation Reduction Act’s (IRA) policy to set prices for select small molecule drugs 9 years after FDA approval impacts innovation and patient health. Price setting under the IRA undermines existing...
Difference-in-Differences in the Marketplace
Price theory says that the most important effects of policy and technological change are often found beyond their first point of contact. This appears opposed to econometric methods that rule out spillovers of one person’s treatment on another’s outcomes. This paper...
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In the Press
We Saw the Gutting of Medicare a Mile Away | The Wall Street Journal | 08/14/2024
By Prof. Casey B. Mulligan and Em. Prof. Tomas J. Philipson Democrats don’t understand healthcare markets. We agree with your editorial “Biden Does...
Biden rewriting Inflation Reduction Act to avoid drug price crisis ahead of election: ‘The Bottom Line’ | Fox News | 08/09/2024
Former White House Council of Economic Advisers acting chairman Tomas Philipson explains the political fallout of the Inflation Reduction Act on...
Biden’s Hail Mary for Re-election Will Cost the U.S. Economy | RealClearHealth | 07/19/2024
By Tomas J. Philipson July 19, 2024 As President Biden works to shore up support before the election and after a difficult first debate his...
2024 ECCHC Supply-Side Economics in Healthcare Conference – Watch Now!
The 2024 ECCHC Supply-side Economics in Healthcare Conference convened both in-person and virtually on Friday, May 3. Watch the full conference, or individual presentations and learn more about the conference here!