Pricing the Priceless: A Health Care Conundrum

The health care industry differs from most other industries in that medical pricing is primarily administered by the government and private insurers and in that it uses several types of contracts. Providers may receive a fixed sum for all necessary services within a given period of time, for the necessary services to treat a given condition, or for each specific service. Medical providers may also be reimbursed on the basis of cost. The industry is changing dramatically, offering many natural experiments to aid understanding of the economics of pricing for health care.