Lecture 5 Flashcards
What does the production function of health define?
Relationship between health and health inputs needed to produce healt
What factors affect health status?
Lifestyle, Environment, Human Biology
Health status increases as more and more health care inputs are added to the production process also some of the factors that influence health is listed above
Is health status an increasing function of health care?
Yes
Health status increases as more and more health care inputs are added to the production process
Production Function of Health
What leads to a movement along the curve or a shift in the curve?
Improvements in lifestyle, environment, or human biology
An Upward shift
What is Total Product?
Health status increases as more health care inputs are added.
What is the relationship between health status and health care?
Health status is an increasing function of health care.
What does an upward shift in the curve represent?
Improvements in Lifestyle, Environment, or Human Biology.
What are some indicators of health status?
number of healthy days, mortality rates, morbidity rates, disability days
- Healthy Life Expectancy at Birth
- Quality Adjusted Life Years:
- Disability Adjusted Life Years
- Life expectancy at birth
- Mortality rate
- Morbidity rate
What is Healthy Life Expectancy at Birth?
average years expected to live in full health
by taking into account years lived in less than full health due to disease and/or injury
What are Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs)?
Measure of years of life lived in less than perfect health
An individual will have more QALYs the longer he or she lives and the better health he or she enjoys during those years
How are QALYs calculated?
Taking into consideration both length of life and health during those years
QALYs are therefore a measure of health gain, which is a ‘good’ of which an individual wishes to have as much as possible
What do QALYs measure?
Health gain and desirable amount of health
What do Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) measure?
Healthy time lost caused by diseases
This indicator combines the life years lost due to premature death with years lived in a health state less than full health.
What does the Disability Adjusted Life Years (DALYs) indicator combine?
Life years lost due to premature death and years lived in a health state less than full health
What are DALYs?
An individual will suffer a larger burden of DALYs lost, the shorter he or she lives and the worse health he or she experiences.
Measure of health gap between actual health and a defined ideal for health achievement.
This gap is a bad which an individual or population would strive to minimize.
What does life expectancy at birth measure?
Average years expected to live if current mortality rates continue to apply.
What is mortality rate?
Number of deaths per 100,000 of the population.
What is morbidity rate?
Number of persons with an illness or disease per 100,000 of the population.
What is diminishing marginal product?
Increments in health status diminish as more health care inputs are added.
Which is most relevant from a public policy perspective, total product or marginal product?
Marginal product.
For example, no one seriously recommends that society eliminate all health care spending.
No one seriously recommends to eliminate all health care spending.
Is it reasonable to ask whether society would be better off if it could reduce health care expenditures by $1 billion and invest those funds in another productive use?
such as housing, education, transportation, defense or other consumption
Yes
We could even reasonably ask if health itself could be improved by transferring the marginal $1 billion to environmental or lifestyle improvements.
What are some alternative uses for the $1 billion if health care expenditures could be reduced?
Housing, education, transportation, defense, or other consumption
Could health be improved by transferring the marginal $1 billion to environmental or lifestyle improvements?
Yes
Where should the extra dollar go?
To where the marginal product is highest
Which Group of countries are more likely to have the marginal product of healthcare spending to be much lower?
Developed countries
In a developed economy, you would probably be on the flat portion of the production function, so the marginal product is low.
Which Group of countries are more likely to have the marginal product of healthcare spending to be much Higher?
Developing countries
In a developing economy, you would probably be on the increase part of the production function, so marginal product is high. As healthcare spending increases, the marginal product falls.
What is an important input for health?
Medical care
Medical care This is an obvious input, and probably the one that most people would think would be the most important. However, medical care can also create some negative externalities (e.g. the inappropriate use of a tuberculosis test can make people worse off; pain killer addiction; side effects of some medical treatments)
What negative externalities can medical care create?
Inappropriate use, addiction, side effects