Uploaded September 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
When policy narrows what people can buy, the largest cost is often left uncounted: the value of the choices they
would have made. This lecture shows how to measure that value from what consumers actually do. A single
quantitative method applies to rules that restrict the type of health insurance people can buy and to fuel-economy
rules that steer buyers toward electric vehicles. The health applications include short-term plans, off-exchange
coverage, and a choice between a group plan and a personal account. Options matter for families whose doctors or
budgets do not fit a one-size-fits-all design. Medicare payment formulas are administered, but they are not insulated
from markets for nurses, physicians, and hospital beds. Workforce, hospital-entry, telehealth, and scope-of-practice
rules can change Medicare spending and beneficiary benefits even when no payment statute changes. Traditional
Medicare and Medicare Advantage transmit those forces differently. Some policies move the two together; others
pull them apart.
--
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) | hhs.gov
Twitter.com/HHSGov | Facebook.com/HHS Instagram.com/HHSGov
LinkedIn.com/company/us-department-of-health-and-human-services
HHS Privacy Policy: hhs.gov/Privacy.html
When policy narrows what people can buy, the largest cost is often left uncounted: the value of the choices they
would have made. This lecture shows how to measure that value from what consumers actually do. A single
quantitative method applies to rules that restrict the type of health insurance people can buy and to fuel-economy
rules that steer buyers toward electric vehicles. The health applications include short-term plans, off-exchange
coverage, and a choice between a group plan and a personal account. Options matter for families whose doctors or
budgets do not fit a one-size-fits-all design. Medicare payment formulas are administered, but they are not insulated
from markets for nurses, physicians, and hospital beds. Workforce, hospital-entry, telehealth, and scope-of-practice
rules can change Medicare spending and beneficiary benefits even when no payment statute changes. Traditional
Medicare and Medicare Advantage transmit those forces differently. Some policies move the two together; others
pull them apart.
--
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) | hhs.gov
Twitter.com/HHSGov | Facebook.com/HHS Instagram.com/HHSGov
LinkedIn.com/company/us-department-of-health-and-human-services
HHS Privacy Policy: hhs.gov/Privacy.html
