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
Beyond Pigou: externalities and civil society in the supply–demand framework
The extent of voluntary cooperation in the presence of externalities is shown as an equilib- rium outcome in the supply and demand framework. The analysis uses familiar ingredients to provide a new way of understanding the results of the extensive literature beginning...
Policy Brief: The Role of Medical Innovation in Reducing Health Disparities and the Impact of the Inflation Reduction Act
The Biden administration has made reducing health disparities a major goal of its health care agenda. This paper provides analysis of whether and how biopharmaceutical innovation has historically reduced disparities in health outcomes and how reducing such innovation...
Restrict the Middleman? Quantitative Models of PBM Regulations and their Consequences
This paper provides the first quantitative economic models of pharmacy benefit management (PBM) regulation. Indeed, few economic models of the pharmaceutical industry even acknowledge that drug benefits are managed and that companies specialize in benefit management....
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In the Press
Public Health Still Needs an Economics Transfusion | National Review | 03/21/2024
By Tomas J. Philipson & Casey B. Mulligan March 21, 2024 Public health frequently trivializes prevention costs, and therefore misjudges...
COVID Lessons Learned: A Retrospective After Four Years | Committee to Unleash Prosperity | 03/15/2024
By Scott W. Atlas, Steve H. Hanke, Philip G. Kerpen, and Casey B. Mulligan March 2024 Executive Summary This report reviews the major policy...
The White House Wants to Double Dip on Drug Rebates | RealClearHealth | 03/15/2024
By Tomas Philipson March 15, 2024 As part of its "Strike Force on Unfair and Illegal Pricing," the White House just doubled down on a December plan...
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!