Dr. Baljit Singh’s two previous books are ‘Topics in Population and Health’ and ‘Social, Cultural, and Behavioural Factors in Public Health.’
This book has been written to inform readers of facts, principles, and policies and to convince readers that without empathy, public health services cannot be delivered to those who cannot afford them. Keep moving forward for better health and healthcare, both individually and collectively.
The main argument of this book is that the tools of economics can be applied to health to increase output and reduce costs. This book explains economic principles as they apply to health. Resources are limited, but demand is unlimited because resources have other uses. You may build a casino, or a hospital on the land you have purchased.
This book aims to provide an understanding of the economic approach to health care market analysis in order to answer health policy questions on the basis of sound and acceptable theoretical principles.
Health economics is to achieve the best use of resources; apply principles of economic welfare; and thereby improve the overall welfare of all citizens, as medical care and rehabilitation are still unaffordable for most citizens in developing countries.
For example, if a person has a meagre income and is self-employed, health treatments like dialysis are almost impossible in a country like India. Likewise, after a stroke, people may not be able to afford the physiotherapist’s services. These are the realities that some human beings go through.
The inspiration of writing this book came from a concern within the system that bulk billing rather than private billing would make health care more affordable for those who can’t afford it.
Control is essential to keep things from getting out of hand. Unregulated medical costs not only encourage more greed, but also put people, including markets and governments, into financial trouble. All economic systems require frequent overhauls; we call this dynamic efficiency with transparency and accountability.
The goal of studying health economics is to develop policies that maximise satisfaction with the use of health care resources so that low-income people can seek timely and affordable health interventions without falling into financial distress. We all use time and money in such a way that we get the most out of it. The government allocates resources based on the best needs of the people. Without government health care policies such as Medicare, millions of people would not be able to afford health care because private health care does not provide services for free.
Treatment is more expensive than prevention. There may be no cure, only prevention. Half of all diseases could be cured if people adopted better social norms and abstained from the smoking, alcoholism, and gambling that cause them. Millions of dollars could be spent on better nutrition and medical care instead of treating diseases caused by smoking and alcohol abuse.
The book refers to the second welfare theorem of economics. The first theorem describes achieving efficiency—reducing costs to maximize profits. The second theorem refers to supporting everything. Ensures equitable health systems lead to equality; also calls for social and economic equality. We work efficiently to bake a bigger pie – unless we bake a bigger pie, we can’t distribute it adequately.
Social, economic, health and political responsibility is a must. Are we leaving some people in a situation of hunger, poverty, unemployment, suffering and deprivation, and lack of medical care? Income ceiling is crucial to bridging the gap between low-income and high-income. Low-income earners cannot bring many benefits to their families. For example, they may not be able to afford fruit or milk.
Public hospitals can provide life-sustaining medications after a stroke, but may not include the services of a physiotherapist. Millions of people may not be able to afford these services. Health economics is about achieving the health and well-being of all humanity through the continuous reallocation of resources according to needs.
Briefly, health economics is the allocation of resources for the benefit of individual and/or collective health. In this regard, bulk billing rather than private billing will make health care more affordable for those who cannot afford it. No health system is free. If a person has a stroke, government hospitals can treat the patient, but physiotherapist services may not be available.
Health insurance is a great option to overcome financial stress. Take care of your health by avoiding health risk factors such as smoking, drinking, obesity, failure to obey traffic rules and other crimes – poisoning, for example, can lead to stroke, heart disease and death.
These are ‘health bads’ in health economics. Even if the health system is free, there are still costs to individuals in terms of pain and suffering, time and monetary costs, including absenteeism, wages and lost work. Strikes by health professionals can put pressure on the health service system, causing delays in treatment and increasing administrative costs. Medical negligence not only results in a loss of life, but also affects family members. Spend money to provide health benefits to people, especially those who can afford it.
Health economics is taught to the students of public health at the Master’s level. This 12-chapter book deals with economics as a tool of health economics – maximizing output and cutting costs.
- Health Economics
- Economic Systems and Health
- Demand and Supply of Health Care
- Elasticity of Demand and Supply in Decision Making
- Utility Maximization
- Production and Costs of Health Care
- Perfect and Imperfect Market Structures
- Market Failure in Healthcare
- Health Workforce
- Healthcare Financing
- Economic Evaluation and Decision-making
- Economic Objectives of Healthcare