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Healthcare is essential for the well-being of individuals, families and societies in accordance with human rights. Healthcare systems are vital to establish, promote, and strengthen delivery of preventive, promotive and curative health services to all sections of society in a fair and equitable manner. Economic principles play an important role in making rational decisions in health sector. Better understanding of health economics and financing by health policy makers can lead to more effective, efficient and equitable health systems. Economic considerations influence the performance of healthcare settings—both in public and private sectors. This book provides an introduction to the conceptual underpinnings of economics of health. It focuses on health financing and understanding of how resources for healthcare are generated, pooled and used to deliver effective and equitable health services. Major models of healthcare financing—including health insurance and its implications for the structure, planning and delivery of healthcare services—have also been set forth. The work also provides useful information on economic evaluation methods used to make decisions by health planners to allocate resources in the health sector. This book has been designed to help students of medicine, public health, health management and other related courses who wish to understand the central economic issues in healthcare sector without much mathematical or analytical techniques. 

Contents: 1. Economics of health. 2. Healthcare demand and supply. 3. Market failure in healthcare. 4. Measuring cost of health services. 5. Economic evaluation in healthcare. 6. Organization and funding of healthcare services. 7. Health insurance. 8. Managed care organizations (MCOs). 9. Changing world of healthcare finance. References. Index.