Skip to Main Content
HBS Home
  • About
  • Academic Programs
  • Alumni
  • Faculty & Research
  • Baker Library
  • Giving
  • Harvard Business Review
  • Initiatives
  • News
  • Recruit
  • Map / Directions
Working Knowledge
Business Research for Business Leaders
  • Browse All Articles
  • Popular Articles
  • Cold Call Podcast
  • Managing the Future of Work Podcast
  • About Us
  • Book
  • Leadership
  • Marketing
  • Finance
  • Management
  • Entrepreneurship
  • All Topics...
  • Topics
    • COVID-19
    • Entrepreneurship
    • Finance
    • Gender
    • Globalization
    • Leadership
    • Management
    • Negotiation
    • Social Enterprise
    • Strategy
  • Sections
    • Book
    • Podcasts
    • HBS Case
    • In Practice
    • Lessons from the Classroom
    • Op-Ed
    • Research & Ideas
    • Research Event
    • Sharpening Your Skills
    • What Do You Think?
    • Working Paper Summaries
  • Browse All
    Spreading the Health: Americans' Estimated and Ideal Distributions of Death and Health(care)
    01 Jun 2020Working Paper Summaries

    Spreading the Health: Americans' Estimated and Ideal Distributions of Death and Health(care)

    by Sorapop Kiatpongsan and Michael I. Norton
    Across varying political ideologies and income levels, Americans both underestimate the current extent of inequality of mortality and healthcare, and prefer each to be more equally distributed.
    LinkedIn
    Email

    Author Abstract

    The 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act intensified debates over the role of government in the distribution of healthcare. A nationally representative sample of Americans reported their estimated and ideal distributions of healthcare (unmet need for prescription medications) and death (gains in life expectancy). Respondents across the demographic and political spectrum wanted mortality and healthcare to be distributed more evenly among the rich and poor than they estimated them to be. For example, respondents estimated that Americans in the poorest quintile lived 1.5 months longer over the previous 20 years while those in the richest quintile lived 4.7 months longer but reported ideal figures of 2.5 and 3.6 months—both were far more equal than the actual figures: -1.8 and 7.2 months. Despite heated debates about healthcare, Americans share a consensus belief that current disparities in death and healthcare are far from their ideals.

    Paper Information

    • Full Working Paper Text
    • Working Paper Publication Date: April 2020
    • HBS Working Paper Number: HBS Working Paper #20-114
    • Faculty Unit(s): Marketing
      Trending
        • 14 Mar 2023
        • In Practice

        What Does the Failure of Silicon Valley Bank Say About the State of Finance?

        • 16 Mar 2023
        • Research & Ideas

        Why Business Travel Still Matters in a Zoom World

        • 13 Mar 2023
        • Op-Ed

        How Leaders Should Leave

        • 07 Mar 2023
        • HBS Case

        ChatGPT: Did Big Tech Set Up the World for an AI Bias Disaster?

        • 25 Jan 2022
        • Research & Ideas

        More Proof That Money Can Buy Happiness (or a Life with Less Stress)

    Michael I. Norton
    Michael I. Norton
    Harold M. Brierley Professor of Business Administration
    Unit Head, Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
    Contact
    Send an email
    → More Articles
    Find Related Articles
    • Health
    • Health Care and Treatment
    • Equality and Inequality
    • Fairness
    • Health

    Sign up for our weekly newsletter

    Interested in improving your business? Learn about fresh research and ideas from Harvard Business School faculty.
    This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
    ǁ
    Campus Map
    Harvard Business School Working Knowledge
    Baker Library | Bloomberg Center
    Soldiers Field
    Boston, MA 02163
    Email: Editor-in-Chief
    →Map & Directions
    →More Contact Information
    • Make a Gift
    • Site Map
    • Jobs
    • Harvard University
    • Trademarks
    • Policies
    • Accessibility
    • Digital Accessibility
    Copyright © President & Fellows of Harvard College