Health Policy Issues: An Economic Perspective, Eighth Edition
- 16h 5m
- Glenn Melnick, Paul J. Feldstein
- Health Administration Press
- 2023
Health Policy Issues: An Economic Perspective uses concise, topical chapters to provide a comprehensive overview of the forces influencing healthcare financing and delivery. Prescription drug coverage, concerns over health equity, and the rise in healthcare costs are just a few of the timely and vital issues that are discussed through the lens of economics. Each chapter includes a clear explanation of the topic, diagrams and charts to aid comprehension, and a summary and discussion questions at the end.
This eighth edition has been revised to reflect the most recent research and data, as well as changes in laws and government policies. A new chapter compares the US health system to those of five European countries. Features of all six systems are correlated to their countries’ medical performance. The tradeoffs that governments and individuals make when spending on healthcare are also discussed.
New and updated content includes coverage of:
- Current Medicare proposals
- COVID’s effect on medical services delivery
- Medicaid effectiveness
- Strategies for addressing the physician shortage
- Affordable Care Act updates
This book is an ideal text for health policy courses in nursing, medicine, health administration, and public-health programs. It covers a much broader range of topics than other titles and allows instructors the flexibility to choose which specific subjects to cover within a course. The text is written from a market economist’s perspective, and no prior knowledge of economics is required.
Health Policy Issues shows how the economic approach to healthcare policy is important not only for understanding the structural and dynamic forces pressing for change in healthcare but also for explaining why the health system has evolved to its current state.
About the Author
Paul J. Feldstein, PhD, has been a professor and the Robert Gumbiner Chair in Health Care Management at the Paul Merage School of Business, University of California, Irvine, since 1987. Previously he was at the University of Michigan as a professor in both the Department of Economics and the School of Public Health. During his leaves from the university, Professor Feldstein worked at the Office of Management and Budget, the Social Security Administration, and the World Health Organization. Professor Feldstein has written eight books and more than 70 articles on healthcare.
Glenn Melnick, PhD, joined the School of Public Administration faculty in 1996. Previously, he served as a faculty member of the UCLA School of Public Health, a consultant at RAND, and an expert witness to the Federal Trade Commission. He has been published in the American Journal of Public Health, Health Affairs, Medical Care, Journal of Health Politics, Policy and Law, Health Policy Reform: Competition and Controls, and Journal of Ambulatory Care Management.
In this Book
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The Rise of Medical Expenditures
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How Much should We Spend on Medical Care?
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Do More Medical Expenditures Produce Better Health?
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In Whose Interest does the Physician Act?
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Rationing Medical Services
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How Much Health Insurance should Everyone Have?
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Why are Those Who Most Need Health Insurance Least Able to Buy It?
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Medicare
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Medicaid
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How Does Medicare Pay Physicians?
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The Shortage of Physicians and Emerging Solutions
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Why is Getting into Medical School so Difficult?
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The Changing Practice of Medicine
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The Economic Outlook for Registered Nurses
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Do Nonprofit Hospitals Behave Differently from For-Profit Hospitals?
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Competition among Hospitals—Does it Raise or Lower Costs?
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The Future Role of Hospitals
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Cost Shifting
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Can Price Controls Limit Medical Expenditure Increases?
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The Evolution of Managed Care
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Has Competition been Tried—And Has it Failed—To Improve the us Healthcare System?
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Comparative Effectiveness Research
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Who Bears The Cost of Employee Health Benefits?
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The High Price of Prescription Drugs
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Ensuring Safety and Efficacy of New Drugs—Too Much of a Good Thing?
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Why are Prescription Drugs Less Expensive Overseas?
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The Pharmaceutical Industry—A Public Policy Dilemma
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Should Kidneys and other Organs Be Bought and Sold?
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Should Profits in Healthcare Be Prohibited?
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The Role of Government in Medical Care
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Health Associations and the Political Marketplace
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Medical Research, Medical Education, Alcohol Consumption, and Pollution—Who Should Pay?
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The Canadian Healthcare System
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Employer-Mandated National Health Insurance
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National Health Insurance—Which Approach and Why?
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Financing Long-Term Care
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The Affordable Care Act—Did it Achieve its Goals?
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Comparative Health Systems
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Glossary
