This book addresses the important economic and public health policy issues that serve as the background for the
healthcare debate concerning access to a healthcare system dominated by managed care.
The primary goals of this book are to enable undergraduate students to:
1. recognize the relevance of economics to health care and to apply economic reasoning to better understand
health care and health-related issues
2. understand the mechanisms of healthcare delivery in the United States and other countries within broad social
and economic contexts
3. explore the changing nature of health care, health-related technology, and workforce planning, and their implications
for medical practice and public health policy
4. analyze public health policy issues in the healthcare sector from an economic perspective