Exposed: Why Our Health Insurance Is Incomplete and What Can Be Done about It
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The Freedom Center Spring 2020 Colloquium Series presents Christopher Robertson, University of Arizona.
Christopher Robertson is an Associate Dean for Research and Innovation and Professor of Law here at the U of A. He also founded the U of A's Regulatory Science Program. Many of you have probably already met him at one of our previous FC talks. Professor Robertson's main interests are in health law as well as law and science. His new book Exposed: Why Our Health Insurance Is Incomplete and What Can Be Done about It just came out with Harvard University Press. In his book (and his talk), Professor Robertson critiques patient cost exposure in the American healthcare system, i.e., the costs that patients incur through deductibles, copayments, and coinsurance. According to Professor Robertson, this system keeps people from valuable care, causes anxiety, and drives people into bankruptcy.
Abstract:
This talk is based on my 2019 book Exposed: Why Our Health Insurance is Incomplete and What Can Be Done About It. The passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010 was an initial attempt by the US government to reshape health care insurance for Americans, but it still leaves patients exposed to huge costs through deductibles, copayments, and coinsurances. While the economic theory of cost-exposure is supposed to empower patients to make cost–benefit trade offs, encourage thrift and efficiency in a system rife with waste, and defend against the moral hazard that can arise from insurance, I find that it undermines access to care and targets the wrong decision makers. In this talk, I also draw on Chapter 4 of my book, which is the most overtly normative and philosophical, developing a theory of justice for access to healthcare in a world with substantial cost exposures.
Due to the current Covid-19 virus this FC Talk will be hosted as a Zoom meeting; please contact Lucy Schwarz if you would like to attend.
We welcome faculty, students, and staff of the Philosophy and Moral Science Departments as well as members of the wider University community.