ASPE Health Economics and Policy Forum - June 25, 2026

Health economics, healthcare regulation, medical innovation, insurance markets, and healthcare supply are often discussed as questions of financing and coverage. But coverage is not care, and payment policy alone does not determine whether healthcare is actually available to patients.

This lecture examines healthcare from a supply-side perspective. Rather than assuming that medical care automatically appears once insurance coverage expands, the discussion focuses on the economic forces that determine whether healthcare can be produced, improved, and delivered over time.

The session explores how competition, regulation, business organization, innovation, and patient choice affect the availability of clinicians, hospitals, pharmaceuticals, medical technologies, and professional time. Particular attention is given to incentives: how policies intended to increase affordability or coverage can sometimes reduce access by discouraging investment, entry, innovation, or efficient production. Conversely, policies that strengthen productive incentives can expand real access to care even without large increases in public spending.


The broader theme is that healthcare access ultimately depends on productive capacity. Sustainable improvements in access require more than financing arrangements; they require institutions that encourage healthcare resources to be created, allocated efficiently, and continuously improved.

To learn more about ASPE’s research and policy work at https://aspe.hhs.gov/


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