Dépense-t-on assez pour la santé ?

Health expenditure growth is mostly driven by the dynamic of medical innovations and not by population ageing. Do we spend too much, or not enough, for health care? To answer to such a question, one needs an evaluation in monetary units of the value of health and longevity gains obtained as a counterpart of health expenditures. Computations implemented for the United States of America show that benefits due to health care are much larger than their costs. Instead of conceiving health expenditure as a cost to reduce, there is an urgent need in France for a public debate about their optimal level, i.e. the level in accordance with citizen preferences. However, gains in efficiency play a key role: to favor citizen adherence to taxes that finance equality in coverage, it is of major importance to improve efficiency in health care provision and public decision regarding treatments that are reimbursed.