This is the first volume of a new annual series that will present policy-relevant economic research on health care and health policy issues. The emphasis will be on less technical papers written primarily for a policy audience. Each volume will contain approximately five papers from an annual conference to be held in spring in Washington, D.C. Topics to be covered include the implications of health care policy provisions, health care organization and management, health outcomes, health care output and productivity, health-related behavior, health and aging, and health and children. ContributorsLaurence Baker, Ernst Berndt, David Cutler, Alan M. Garber, Thomas Macurdy, Mark McClellan, Louise Sheiner, Richard Zeckhauser

Policy-relevant economic research on health care and health policy issues.

This A-Z book aims to equip the reader with the practical knowledge, skills, and attitudes needed to deliver powerful research evidence for health policy-makers, in the government, not-for-profit, and private sectors. It focuses on describing the genre of policy-relevant research in a heuristic, practice-based way.

The United States is unique in the industrialized world in the number of people without health insurance. In 2002, nearly 44 million Americans did not have health insurance coverage. Despite long-running study of this problem, the political debate on health insurance is often based on conventional wisdom and studies that haven't been integrated into a careful theoretical framework. In Health Policy and the Uninsured, leading experts in health policy survey the literature on this subject, synthesizing a wide range of health insurance studies into a comprehensive overview of the uninsured. They consider the methodological hurdles involved in the research, explore the complex interaction between health insurance and labor supply, and highlight the special issues facing children, racial or ethnic minorities and immigrants, the near-elderly, and people with psychiatric or substance abuse disorders. This coordinated critique serves several purposes: First, it summarizes for policy makers what we do not know about the uninsured. Second, it provides a framework for the health policy research needed to fill the remaining gaps in our knowledge. And finally, it serves as a useful primer for economists and other policy analysts.

The LSE Companion to Health Policy covers a wide range of conceptual and practical issues from a number of different perspectives introducing the reader to, and summarising, the vast literature that analyses the complexities of health policy. the Companion also assesses the current state of the art. Health policy is a wide-ranging subject covering many academic disciplines, but what most studies in health policy have in common is an interest in applying theory to improve practice. This Companion brings academic rigour to bear evidence on a range of central areas within health policy. It covers key issues on the quality, access and inequalities in health and health care; supply and health markets; insurance and expenditures; pharmaceuticals and new technologies: and aging and long-term care. This unique Companion on health policy contains the most important features for health system reform at a time of funding constraints and will therefore hold great appeal for policy analysts and makers, students, academics and management professionals.

Today, as never before, healthcare has the ability to enhance the quality and duration of life. At the same time, healthcare has become so costly that it can easily bankrupt governments and impoverish individuals and families. Health services research is a highly multidisciplinary field, including such areas as health administration, health economics, medical sociology, medicine, , political science, public health, and public policy. The Encyclopedia of Health Services Research is the first single reference source to capture the diversity and complexity of the field. With more than 400 entries, these two volumes investigate the relationship between the factors of cost, quality, and access to healthcare and their impact upon medical outcomes such as death, disability, disease, discomfort, and dissatisfaction with care. Key Features Examines the growing healthcare crisis facing the United States Encompasses the structure, process, and outcomes of healthcare Aims to improve the equity, efficiency, effectiveness, and safety of healthcare by influencing and developing public policies Describes healthcare systems and issues from around the globe Key Themes Access to Care Accreditation, Associations, Foundations, and Research Organizations Biographies of Current and Past Leaders Cost of Care, Economics, Finance, and Payment Mechanisms Disease, Disability, Health, and Health Behavior Government and International Healthcare Organizations Health Insurance Health Professionals and Healthcare Organizations Health Services Research Laws, Regulations, and Ethics Measurement; Data Sources and Coding; and Research Methods Outcomes of Care Policy Issues, Healthcare Reform, and International Comparisons Public Health Quality and Safety of Care Special and Vulnerable Groups The Encyclopedia is designed to be an introduction to the various topics of health services research for an audience including undergraduate students, graduate students, andgeneral readers seeking non-technical descriptions of the field and its practices. It is also useful for healthcare practitioners wishing to stay abreast of the changes and updates in the field.

Why do people buy health insurance? Conventional theory holds that people purchase insurance because they prefer the certainty of paying a small premium to the risk of getting sick and paying a large medical bill. This book presents a new theory of consumer demand for health insurance. It holds that people purchase insurance to obtain additional "income" when they become ill.

In this volume, leading American health economists provide a critical assessment of the current state of knowledge of insurance market reform that is accessible to both policy-makers and researchers.

The Oxford Handbook of Health Economics provides an accessible and authoritative guide to health economics, intended for scholars and students in the field, as well as those in adjacent disciplines including health policy and clinical medicine. The chapters stress the direct impact of health economics reasoning on policy and practice, offering readers an introduction to the potential reach of the discipline. Contributions come from internationally-recognized leaders in health economics and reflect the worldwide reach of the discipline. Authoritative, but non-technical, the chapters place great emphasis on the connections between theory and policy-making, and develop the contributions of health economics to problems arising in a variety of institutional contexts, from primary care to the operations of health insurers. The volume addresses policy concerns relevant to health systems in both developed and developing countries. It takes a broad perspective, with relevance to systems with single or multi-payer health insurance arrangements, and to those relying predominantly on user charges; contributions are also included that focus both on medical care and on non-medical factors that affect health. Each chapter provides a succinct summary of the current state of economic thinking in a given area, as well as the author's unique perspective on issues that remain open to debate. The volume presents a view of health economics as a vibrant and continually advancing field, highlighting ongoing challenges and pointing to new directions for further progress.