The economics of health reconsidered

Machine generated contents note: Foreword -- by Uwe E. Reinhardt -- Acknowledgments -- Preface to the Second Edition --1 Introduction -- 1.1 Why Should the Economics of Health Be Reconsidered? -- 1.2 Purpose of the Book -- 1.3 Outline of the Book -- 2 Market Competition -- 2.1 The Traditional Economic Model -- 2.1.1 Consumers -- 2.1.2 Producers -- 2.1.3 The Economy as a Whole -- 2.1.4 Pareto Optimality and Social Welfare -- 2.2 Problems with the Traditional Model -- 2.2.1 Negative Externality: Concern About Status -- 2.2.2 Positive Externality: Concern About Others -- 2.2.3 Consumer Tastes Are Predetermined -- 2.3 Implications for Health Policy -- 2.3.1 Does the Distribution of Income Affect the Health of the Population? -- 2.3.2 Equalizing Access to Health Services -- 2.3.3 What Comes First: Allocation or Distribution? -- 2.3.4 Competition and Prevention -- 2.3.5 Government-Sponsored Health Education -- 2.3.6 Should Cost Control Be a Public Policy? -- 3 Demand Theory -- 3.1 The Traditional Economic Model -- 3.1.I Utility and Social Welfare -- 3.I.2 Revealed Preference -- 3.1.3 Demand Curves and Functions -- 3.1.4 The Meaning of Demand and Consumer Surplus --3.2 Problems with the Traditional Model -- 3.2.1 Social Welfare and Consumer Choice: A Syllogism -- 3.2.2 Are Individual Utilities Maximized When People Are Allowed to Choose? -- 3.2.3 Is Social Welfare Maximized When Individual Utilities Are Maximized? -- 3.3 Implications for Health Policy -- 3.3.1 Is Comprehensive National Health Insurance Necessarily Inefficient? -- 3.3.2 Should Patient Cost-Sharing Be Encouraged, or Should We Use Other Policies? -- 3.3.3 Should People Pay More for Price-Elastic Services? -- 3.3.4 Defined Contribution, Premium Support, and MSAS --4 Supply Theory 129 -- 4.1 The Traditional Economic Model -- 4.2 Problems with the Traditional Model -- 4.2.I Are Supply and Demand Independently Determined? -- 4.2.2 Do Firms Have Monopoly Power? -- 4.2.3 Do Firms Maximize Profits? -- 4.2.4 Do Increasing Returns to Scale Exist? -- 4.2.5 Is Production Independent of the Distribution of Wealth? -- 4.3 Implications for Health Policy -- 4.3.1 Capitation and Incentive Reimbursement -- 4.3.2 Issues Surrounding Patient Cost-Sharing -- 4.3.3 Allowing Only Selected Hospitals to Provide Particular Services -- 4.3.4 Improving Productivity by Providing Insurance -- 5 Equity and Redistribution 171 -- 5.1 The Traditional Economic Model -- 5.2 Problems with the Traditional Model -- 5.2.1 Overview of Utilitarianism -- 5.2.2 Problems with Ordinal Utilitarianism --5.3 Implications for Health Policy -- 5.3.I Providing Health Services Rather than Cash -- 5.3.2 Focusing on People's Health, Not Utility -- 5.3.3 National Health Insurance -- 6 The Role of Government 201 -- 6.1 Alternative Views on the Role of Government -- 6.1.1 Market Failure -- 6.1.2 Government Failure -- 6.2 Different Approaches to the Role of Government in the -- Health Services Sector -- 6.2.1 Structure of the System -- 6.2.2 Nature of Coverage and Delivery -- 6.2.3 Regulation of Prices and Expenditures -- 6.2.4 Regulation of Volume -- 6.2.5 Control of Input Supply -- 6.3 Cross-National Data on Health System Performance -- 6.3.1 Access -- 6.3.2 Utilization -- 6.3.3 Expenditures -- 6.3.4 Quality and Satisfaction -- 6.3.5 Equity of Financing System -- 6.3.6 Summary of Evidence -- 6.4 Ten "Lessons" on the Role of Government in Health Systems --7 Conclusion 271 -- Appendix: Overview of the Health Services Systems -- in Ten Developed Countries -- by Miriam J. Laugesen and Thomas Rice 275 -- References 306 -- Index 335 -- About the Author 342