Health Care Costs: Discussion of 'The Impact of Changes in Regulation on Cost Behavior'

Abstract

In this discussion, I use Holzhacker, Krishnan, and Mahlendorf (this issue), hereafter HKM, as a point of departure from which to discuss the current state of the two research areas to which they contribute. I will present some big-picture thoughts on research opportunities in their source literatures — the literature on financial management in health care and the literature on cost stickiness — and speculate as to where these literatures might go in the future.

Keywords: health care cost, cost elasticity, cost stickiness, financial management in health care

JEL Classification: M41, I1