Health Care for Us All

Earl L. Grinols has served as Distinguished Professor of Economics at the Hankamer School of Business, Baylor University since 2004. He previously taught at MIT, Cornell University, the University of Chicago, and the University of Illinois. Professor Grinols worked as a research economist for the Department of the Treasury and as Senior Economist for the Council of Economic Advisers. He has extensively published in the fields of finance, public finance, international economics, and macroeconomics. He is the author of three previous books, including Gambling in America: Costs and Benefits (2004), also published by Cambridge University Press. He has testified before Congress and in numerous statehouses, and his work has been cited by leading newspapers and news outlets such as the Economist, Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, Boston Globe, the Financial Times, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer, Time, US News and World Report, Washington Post, New York Times, and many others. James W. Henderson, who is Ben H. Williams Professor in Economics at Baylor University, received his Ph.D. from Southern Methodist University. He has taught at Baylor in Waco, Texas, since 1981. Professor Henderson's health care research on diverse issues such as alternatives to pharmaceutical patents, cost effectiveness of cancer screening, availability of hospital services in rural areas, hospital location decisions, and the cost effectiveness of prenatal care has appeared in various journals, including Pharmacoeconomics, Health Care Financing Review, the Journal of Rural Studies, Expert Review of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research, and the Journal of Regional Science. His current research includes examining the cost of state-level health insurance mandates. Professor Henderson's textbook, Health Economics and Policy, is now in its fourth edition.

'Two Baylor economists apply economic principles, rather than political considerations, to health care reform and conclude that we can achieve universal coverage, lower costs, and satisfied consumers and patients. Their important contribution to the debate is showing that the key to reforming our health care system isn't expanding government control, which has largely caused most of the current problems, but getting the economic incentives right.' Dr Merrill Matthews, Institute for Policy Innovation

• Part I. Goals and Working Principles: 1. Introduction; 2. Goals; 3. Principles; Part II. Background Economics and Ethics: 4. Markets, VPOs, government; 5. Education, charity, and the American ethical base; Part III. Application: 6. Why government in health care?; 7. Insurance; 8. The new Baylor plan; Part IV. Protective Measures: 9. Forestalling free-riders; 10. Preserving prices; 11. Inducing innovation; 12. Summary.