Health

Healthcare Economist Unbiased Analysis of Today’s Healthcare Issues

  • Health care spending makes up 18% of the US Economy
    by Jason Shafrin on January 20, 2026 at 11:50 pm

    That is according to the 2024 national health expenditure data published in Health Affairs last week (Hartman et al. 2026). Here is the abstract: Health care spending in the US reached $5.3 trillion and increased 7.2 percent in 2024, similar to growth of 7.4 percent in 2023, as increased demand for health care influenced this two-year trend. As…

  • How is AI transforming the pharmaceutical industry?
    by Jason Shafrin on January 15, 2026 at 11:29 pm

    The Economist reports that many life science companies are betting big on AI to help with drug development. Why? If AI can increase their likelihood new molecules become successful drugs, the cost of drug development will fall. AI-designed molecules show an 80-90% success rate in early-stage safety trials, compared with a historical average of just…

  • Impact of breast cancer therapies goes beyond just health
    by Jason Shafrin on January 14, 2026 at 6:44 am

    That is the finding from Daysal et al. (2025). We reproduce the results from an RCT showing the life-saving benefits of radiotherapy. We show radiation therapy also has economic returns: Ten years after diagnosis, treatment increases employment by 37 percent and earnings by 45 percent. Previous work has documented a substantial employment drop after a…

  • Cost per responder analysis of iptacopan versus eculizumab and ravulizumab in treatment of paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria
    by Jason Shafrin on January 12, 2026 at 12:35 pm

    That is the tile of my recent paper in the Journal of Medical Economics with co-authors Kyi-Sin Than, Sanjana Muthukrishnan, Jincy Paulose, Ver Bilano and Nicholas Kuypers. The abstract is below: ObjectiveParoxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) is a rare and debilitating hematological disease with significant economic burden. Despite the availability of multiple therapies, there is a…

  • Friday AI Links
    by Jason Shafrin on January 10, 2026 at 4:00 am

    ChatGPT introduces OpenAI for Healthcare. AI can make prescription renewals in Utah. AMA’s perspective of physicians role with AI. US Army’s use of AI to improve soldiers’ mental health. Claim the AI skill boost.