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Free Trade in Health Care: The Gains from Globalized Medicare and Medicaid

Author

Listed:
  • Dean Baker
  • Hye-Jin Rho

Abstract

The huge gap between the cost of health care in the United States and the cost in other countries with comparable health care outcomes suggests the potential for substantial gains from trade. This paper describes one mechanism for taking advantage of these gains – through a globalization of the country’s Medicare and Medicaid programs. The projections in this paper suggest that the country’s long-term budget situation would be substantially improved if beneficiaries of these two programs over the age of 65 were allowed to take advantage of the lower-cost health care available in other countries (that also have higher life expectancies than the U.S.). This could also allow them to enjoy much higher retirement incomes than they would otherwise receive.

Suggested Citation

  • Dean Baker & Hye-Jin Rho, 2009. "Free Trade in Health Care: The Gains from Globalized Medicare and Medicaid," CEPR Reports and Issue Briefs 2009-38, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).
  • Handle: RePEc:epo:papers:2009-38
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    File URL: http://www.cepr.net/documents/publications/free-trade-hc-2009-09.pdf
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    Cited by:

    1. Dean Baker, 2010. "The Budget Deficit Scare Story and the Great Recession," CEPR Reports and Issue Briefs 2010-04, Center for Economic and Policy Research (CEPR).

    More about this item

    Keywords

    Free Trade; healthcare; Medicare; Medicaid;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • F - International Economics
    • F1 - International Economics - - Trade
    • I - Health, Education, and Welfare
    • I1 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health
    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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