Health economics has made major contributions to the development of health policy in many countries. This book describes those successes and looks forward to the major contributions that health economics can bring to bear on emerging policy issues in health and health care.

With contributions from internationally recognized researchers, this book addresses generic policy issues confronting health systems across the developed world. The coverage progresses from micro, patient level issues to macro, whole system issues including:

· Determining cost-effective treatments

· Fair distribution of health care

· Regulatory issues such as performance measurement and incentives

· Revenue distribution

· Decentralization and internationalization of health systems

Health Policy and Economics identifies the major contributions that health economics makes to important policy issues in health and health care. It is key reading for policy makers and health managers as well as students and academics with an interest in health policy and health services research.

Contributors: Ron L. Akehurst, Karen E. Bloor, Martin Buxton, Karl P. Claxton, Richard Cookson, Diane A. Dawson, Paul Dolan, Mike Drummond, Brian Ferguson, Hugh Gravelle, Maria Goddard, Katharina Hauck, John Hutton, Andrew M. Jones, Rowena Jacobs, Paul Kind, Rosella Levaggi, Guillem López Casanovas, Alan K. Maynard, Nigel Rice, Anthony Scott, Rebecca Shaw, Trevor Sheldon, Andrew D. Street, Mark Sculpher, Matthew Sutton, Peter C. Smith, Adrian Towse, Aki Tsuchiya, Alan H. Williams.