This best-selling comprehensive introduction to the economics of health and health care thoroughly develops and explains economic ideas and models and reflects the full spectrum of the most current health economics literature. It provides students with a solid working knowledge of the analytical tools of economics and econometrics as applied to contemporary health care issues.
Core text for courses in health care economics found in Departments of Economics, Health Administration, Public Health, nursing and medical programs.
Features and Benefits
New - Totally rewritten chapter on managed care.
New - Analysis on "who pays" for health insurance.
New - Chapter on economic bads (Chapter 25). Most analyses look at things that are good for us. Items such as cigarettes are not.
New - Chapter on pharmaceuticals (Chapter 26). Rather than a simple industry study, the text looks at portions of the pharmaceutical industry with important economic content. These include questions as to the optimal combinations of drug therapies and other economic technologies, patent protection issues, and price discrimination by pharmaceutical firms.
New - Cost-benefit chapter covered earlier in text (Chapter 4).
Changes in government policies regarding health care covered in 2 chapters.
Chapter 20 looks at conceptual issues regarding government intervention in health care markets. Chapter 21 investigates the principle regulatory mechanisms including antitrust policy.
Organization of content by economic themes such as supply and demand, technology, labor issues, and the economics of information.
Focus on health care economic principles, including consumer utility, and economic profit.
Reviews on microeconomic concepts and statistical tools for students who may need additional preparation in those areas.
Shows how economists analyze problems using examples that are relevant to health economics. Requires no calculus.
Ideas and models are extensively used.
Provide clear, thorough explanations of complex concepts, e.g.-
Unique treatment of the demand of health care (Chapter 6).
New treatments of the economics of managed care. (Chapter 12).
Graphs, tables, and charts extensively throughout.
Extensive bibliography of the current health economics literature - over 750
references.
Contemporary ideas highlighted.
