Improved health, equity, macro-economic efficiency, efficient provision of care, and client satisfaction are the common goals of the health system. The relative significance of these goals varies, however, across nations, communities, and with time. As for health care finance, the attainment of these goals under varying circumstances involves alternative policy options for each of the following elements: sources of finance, allocation of finance, pay to providers, and public-private mix. The intricate set of multiple goals, elements, and policy options defies human reasoning, and, hence, hinders effective policymaking. Indeed, health system finance' is not amenable to a clear set of structural relationships. Neither is there a universe that can be subject to statistical scrutiny: each health system is unique. 'Fuzzy logic' and its underlying 'Expert System' that model human reasoning by managing knowledge' close to the way it is handled by human language, provides a powerful tool for systematic analysis of health system finance, and for guiding policy making. Assuming equal welfare weights for alternative goals, and mutually exclusive policy options under each health-financing element, the exploratory model we present here suggests that a German type health system is best. Other solutions depend on the welfare weights and mixes of policy options.
Download Info
To download:
If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the
proper application to
view it first. Information about this may be contained
in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read
the IDEAS help
page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS
site. Please be patient as the files may be large.
As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to look for a different version under "Related research" (further below) or search for a different version of it.
Publisher Info
Paper provided by National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc in its series NBER Working Papers with number
8470.
Length: Date of creation: Sep 2001 Date of revision: Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:8470
Note: HE Contact details of provider: Postal: National Bureau of Economic Research, 1050 Massachusetts Avenue Cambridge, MA 02138, U.S.A. Phone: 617-868-3900 Email: Web page: http://www.nber.org More information through EDIRC
For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: ().
Related research
Keywords:
Other versions of this item:
This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:
References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.: