This textbook examines the many issues surrounding the cost and structure of health care in the U.S, such as the market for health insurance, the market for health care practitioners, the aging population, the legal system, technology, and public policies. The second edition adds sections on quality differences between managed care and fee-for-service care, consolidation in the hospital industry, and the economics of state-level health insurance mandates. c. Book News Inc.

Healthcare affects the lives of most Americans and absorbs a large portion of the United States' resources. It also is continually debated, prompting ongoing legislative changes and market restructuring. One of the best ways to understand healthcare, in all its complexity, is from an economic perspective -- that is, from the perspective of the financial self-interest of all involved parties. "Health Policy Issues: An Economic Perspective" takes just such an approach. Paul J. Feldstein describes the forces that press for change in healthcare and explains why the US health system has evolved to its current state. The book's 38 concise, issue-oriented chapters cover various aspects of the US health system, including the cost of medical care, health insurance, Medicare and Medicaid, physician and nursing shortages, medical school admittance, malpractice reform, prescription drug prices, and more. -- From publisher's description.

In this book, Phelps and Parente explore the US health care system and set out the case for its reform. They trace the foundations of today’s system, and show how distortions in the incentives facing participants in the health care market could be corrected in order to achieve lower costs, a higher quality of care, a higher level of patient safety, and a more efficient allocation of health care resources. Phelps and Parente propose novel yet economically robust changes to US tax law affecting health insurance coverage and related issues. They also discuss a series of specific improvements to Medicare and Medicaid, and assess potential innovations that affect all of health care, including chronic disease management, fraud and abuse detection, information technology, and other key issues. The Economics of US Health Care Policy will be illuminating reading for anyone with an interest in health policy, and will be a valuable supplementary text for courses in health economics and health policy, including for students without advanced training in economics.

This book contains a collection of works showcasing the latest research into global health economics conducted by leading experts in the field from the Centre for Health Economics (CHE) at the University of York and other partner research institutions. Each chapter focuses upon an important topic in global health economics and a number of separate research projects. The discussion delves into health care policy evaluation; economic evaluation; econometric and other analytic methods; health equity and universal health coverage; consideration of cost-effectiveness thresholds and opportunity costs in the health sector; health system challenges and possible solutions; and others. Case study examples from a variety of low- and middle-income countries (LMIC) settings are also showcased in the final part of this volume.The research presented seeks to contribute toward increasing understanding on how health policy can be enhanced to improve the welfare of LMIC populations. It is strongly recommended for public health policymakers and analysts in low- and middle-income country settings and those affiliated to international health organizations and donor organizations.

The new edition of a textbook that combines economic concepts with empirical evidence, updated with material on the Affordable Care Act and other developments. This book introduces students to the growing research field of health economics. Rather than offer details about health systems without providing a theoretical context, Health Economics combines economic concepts with empirical evidence to enhance readers' economic understanding of how health care institutions and markets function. The theoretical and empirical approaches draw heavily on the general field of applied microeconomics, but the text moves from the individual and firm level to the market level to a macroeconomic view of the role of health and health care within the economy as a whole. The book takes a global perspective, with description and analysis of institutional features of health sectors in countries around the world. This second edition has been updated to include material on the U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, material on the expansion of health insurance in Massachusetts, and an evaluation of Oregon's Medicaid expansion via lottery. The discussion of health care and health insurance in China has been substantially revised to reflect widespread changes there. Tables and figures have been updated with newly available data. Also new to this edition is a discussion of the health economics literature published between 2010 and 2015. The text includes readings, extensive references, review and discussion questions, and exercises. A student solutions manual offers solutions to selected exercises. Downloadable supplementary material is available for instructors.

Health Economics combines current economic theory, recent research, and health policy problems into a comprehensive overview of the field. This thorough update of a classic and widely used text follows author Charles E. Phelps' thirteen years of service as Provost of the University of Rochester. Accessible and intuitive, early chapters use recent empirical studies to develop essential methodological foundations. Later chapters build on these core concepts to focus on key policy areas, such as the structure and effects of Medicare reform, insurance plans, and new technologies in the health care community. This edition contains revised and updated data tables and contains information throughout the text on the latest changes that were made to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA).

Examining the different structures and techniques involved in making decisions about who benefits from those health care resources available in a publicly funded system, this title provides a concise and compact introduction to health economics and policy