Despite spending more on health care by percentage of gross domestic product (GDP) than its peer high-income countries, the U.S. has not seen the abundance of services or improved outcomes for patients that one might expect. Instead, as medical costs increase, U.S. health outcomes continue to lag behind those of other developed nations.
Texas, which spends nearly $50 billion on health care annually, performs poorly relative to other states on key metrics like maternal mortality and deaths from preventable or treatable causes. But with its recent investments in health-impacting, non-medical services, it has a unique opportunity to get more value from its spending, according to Elena M. Marks, senior health policy fellow, and Charles W. Mathias, director of the Texas Consortium for the Non-Medical Drivers of Health. Marks and Mathias joined the Baker Briefing podcast to discuss how we can invest smarter for better health outcomes at both the state and federal levels.
Subscribe and listen to Baker Briefing on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you listen to podcasts. For more from Marks and Mathias, read the report “Enhancing Texas’ Health Care Investments by Addressing Patients’ Non-Medical Needs,” published in September 2024.
This conversation was recorded on Sept. 25, 2024. A transcript of this episode is available here. This text was AI-generated and has not been through editorial review.
Discussants
Elena M. Marks, J.D., MPH
Senior Health Policy Fellow, Baker Institute
Charles W. Mathias, Ph.D.
Director, Texas Consortium for the Non-Medical Drivers of Health, Baker Institute
The Honorable David M. Satterfield
Director, Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy; Janice and Robert McNair Chair in Public Policy
Baker Briefing is a podcast that tackles the most critical foreign and domestic policy issues of the day in conversations with experts at the Baker Institute. Hosted by the Honorable David M. Satterfield, director of the Baker Institute, new episodes are released weekly.
Certain episodes of Baker Briefing are recorded in front of a live audience at Rice University in Houston, Texas. You can attend live recordings by joining the Baker Roundtable, the Baker Institute’s membership forum.
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