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Editor’s note: To read more about how UChicago is on the frontlines of the coronavirus pandemic, visit the Confronting COVID-19 website.
The United States has confirmed more cases of the novel coronavirus than any other country in the world, with infections topping 370,000. The rapid increase in patients is straining hospitals across the nation—and poses pressing questions for its health insurance programs.
For Prof. Katherine Baicker, a leading health economics researcher at the University of Chicago, the current crisis has highlighted two important recommendations: Changing the way that we pay for care to maximize health and promote medical innovation, and making a more robust safety net that everyone can access.
But structural changes are difficult to enact and implement in the midst of a public health crisis. The dean of the Harris School of Public Policy, Baicker said that to help those in need right now, state and local governments can take immediate steps to lift barriers to care—steps that can, in turn, help identify and tamp down COVID-19 outbreaks.
