Principles in Health Economics and Policy

Principles in Health Economics and Policy, second edition, is a concise introduction to health economics and its application to health policy. It introduces the subject of economics, explains the fundamental failures in the market for healthcare, and discusses the concepts of equity and fairness when applied to health and healthcare. This new edition presents a globally-relevant, policy-oriented approach, that emphasizes the application of economic analysis to universal health policy issues in an accessible manner. It explores four key questions currently facing health policy-makers across the globe: How should society intervene in the determinants that affect health? How should healthcare be financed? How should healthcare providers be paid? And, how should alternative healthcare programmes be evaluated when setting priorities? The book is an ideal guide to everyone interested in how the tools of health economics can be applied when shaping health policy.

Jan Abel Olsen is a professor of health economics and health services research at the Department of Community Medicine, University of Tromsø, Norway. He is an adjunct professor at the Centre for Health Economics, Monash University, Australia, and a part-time researcher at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health. His eclectic research interests include measurement and valuation of health outcomes, efficiency vs equality in health and health care, primary care financing, and social epidemiology. He has published extensively in leading journals in these fields, and has served as an advisor to various governmental bodies and commissions.

- 1: Health and healthcare - 2: Economics and efficiency - 3: What makes the market for healthcare different? - 4: Equality and fairness - 5: Determinants of (inequalities in) health: An overview - 6: Exogenous determinants of health - 7: The social environment and health - 8: Health related behaviour - 9: Funding sources: An overview - 10: Uncertainty and health insurance - 11: Prepayment schemes - 12: Patient payments - 13: The healthcare delivery system: An overview - 14: Primary care: Paying general practitioners - 15: Secondary care: Hospital financing - 16: Unwarranted variations in healthcare utilization - 17: Economic evaluation and priority setting: An overview - 18: Benefits from improved health - 19: Costs and the cost-effectiveness threshold - 20: Beyond cost-effectiveness: Priority setting - Index