I have just posted the paper version of my June 11, 2012 Presidential Address to the American Society of Health Economists.

The title of the talk and paper is

Five Questions for Health Economists

Here are the five questions in case you want to ponder them before reading the paper.

Q1: If the ceiling in this room fell down and permanently paralyzed both of your legs, what type of health insurance coverage would you want?

Q2. What approach do you prefer to ensure that the individual premiums of older workers (age 65 and over) are not ten times the premium of young workers?

Q3a: If you were to choose one class of providers to give incentives to reduce total health spending, which one would it be?

Q3b. What would be your preferred alternative to fee-for-service payment for primary care practitioners (PCPs)?

Q4 How well is competition working at keeping down the costs of health care in the market where you live?

Q5 Why do economists spend so much time looking under lamp posts?

The written version of the address is now forthcoming (Expected:September, 2012) as Ellis, Randall P., 2012, Five Questions for Health Economists. International Journal of Health Care Finance and Economics, and will be available at www.Springerlink.com.