Economics And Australian Health Policy

A century ago, health services absorbed few resources and provided little benefit. Since then, advances in medical knowledge and techniques have escalated both the benefits and the costs. The affordability of health services is being questioned in even the richest countries, and the economic aspects of health policy have become ever more intrusive. Australia is no exception, with its health system now absorbing 19% of all government tax revenue. Familiarity with economic issues - such as how to assess health outcomes, how to assign resources efficiently and what financial arrangements will promote equity as well as efficiency - is essential to understanding health policy. This is especially so at a time when the economics of health care are being internationally re-examined, with new forms of competition, challenges to public ownership and case-mix funding of hospitals under scrutiny, and a re-evaluation of the benefits of pharmaceuticals and new technologies underway. Economics and Australian Health Policy offers this understanding to readers with and without formal economic training. It starts with an introduction to both the economic way of thinking about health systems, and the context in which those economic questions are raised - the structure of the Australian health system, its culture and its patterns of financial flows. It then describes and appraises from an economic perspective the major components of the system and the policy issues which arise. This collection has been specially commissioned to address both Australia's most pressing policy issues and the needs of public health and health economic policy-makers, academics, commentators and students. The list of contributors reads like a who's who in Australian health economics, who have been encouraged, clearly successfully, to write accessibly yet with authority and conviction.

"Familiarity with economic issues - such as how to assess health outcomes, how to assign resources efficiently and what financial arrangements will promote equity as well as efficiency - is essential to understanding health policy." "Economics and Australian Health Policy offers this understanding to readers with and without formal economic training." "This collection has been specially commissioned to address both Australia's most pressing policy issues and the needs of public health and health economic policy-makers, academics, commentators and students."--BOOK JACKET.Title Summary field provided by Blackwell North America, Inc. All Rights Reserved

This updated and revised 5th edition of the highly successful book Health Care and Public Policy: An Australian Analysis, provides a comprehensive analysis of health care and public policy in Australia. It explains what governments have done and what they can do about shaping Australia’s health care system, and considers the political, economic, social and epidemiological contexts within which health policies develop, and the forces that promote and oppose change. This new edition revises all relevant data and provides a thorough analysis of the major policy shifts and changes since 2010. Recent changes include the commitment of the Commonwealth government to undertake major reforms to the funding and organisation of health services in Australia which were incorporated in the National Health Reform Agreement (NHRA) and accepted by all States and Territories in 2011. Health Care and Public Policy is an invaluable text for students in health administration, health planning, social work and social administration as well as students in all health-related courses and those working in health care, either in policy or service delivery.

This text provides details of the Australian health system and of the main political influences and the theoretical and conceptual underpinning for decisions and trends in health and health care.

Some aspects of public health vary by locality or jurisdiction. Political challenges are not one of them. As governments on every scale become motivated by short-term economic gains, the essential causes of public health and equity are regularly subject to political questioning and financial shortcutting. Governing for Health is a counterpoint to this myopic approach -- a passionate, rigorous case for why the health of a society is both its greatest measure and its most untapped source of prosperity. Drawing on evidence from economic policy, urban planning, education, environmental policy, and civil action, Fran Baum offers more than a pie-in-sky vision of an equitable society. Governing for Health is an actionable (and inspiring) roadmap to a society that draws prosperity from advancing the health of its people. It utilizes methods of progress-measuring, city planning, and progressive policy foci to advance goals that are unreachable in traditional, economics-driven government practice. Whether for students in health equity, more seasoned public health professionals, or citizens interested in their community's and their own health this book offers a trenchant, richly rewarding and accessible look at the field's ultimate end game -- and with it, hope that it's closer than we think.

Why, despite vast resources being expended on health and health care, is there still so much ill health and premature death? Why do massive inequalities in health, both within and between countries, remain? In this devastating critique, internationally renowned health economist Gavin Mooney places the responsibility for these problems firmly at the door of neoliberalism. Mooney analyses how power is exercised both in health-care systems and in society more generally. In doing so, it reveals how too many vested interests hinder efficient and equitable policies to promote healthy populations, while too little is done to address the social determinants of health. Instead, Mooney argues, health services and health policy more generally should be returned to the communities they serve. Taking in a broad range of international case studies - from the UK to the US, South Africa to Cuba - this provocative book places issues of power and politics in health care systems centre stage, making a compelling case for the need to re-evaluate how we approach health care globally.

Outlines the reasons why the National Health Service should be supported on the grounds of both equity and economic efficiency.

"Analysing health policy explores Australian health policy using a novel, problem-orientated approach. It shows the problem-solving techniques that are used when developing policy and demonstrates the skills of analysis and decision making.Introductory chapters explain the problem-orientated approach to health policy development and introduce the policy making process. Case studies then explore developments in health policy in both priority and topical areas. Chapters illustrate how policy-makers respond to perennial and emerging policy problems and demonstrate problem-solving approaches to the conception, development and implementation of health policy."--Provided by publisher.