TY  - JOUR
AU  - Fogel,Robert W.
AU  - Lee,Chulhee
TI  - Who Gets Health Care?
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 9870
PY  - 2003
Y2  - July 2003
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w9870
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w9870.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Robert W. Fogel
Director,  Center for Population Economics
University of Chicago, Booth School of Business
5807 S. Woodlawn Avenue, Suite 367
Chicago, IL  60637
Tel: 773/702-7709
Fax: 773/702-2901
E-Mail: rwf@cpe.uchicago.edu

Chulhee Lee
140 S Crescent Dr #B
Beverly Hills, CA 90212
Tel: 310-867-3301
E-Mail: chullee@snu.ac.kr
AB  - Around the world, as in the United States, concern is growing about who gets health care. Individuals from different socioeconomic backgrounds face distressingly different prospects of living a healthy life. Disparities in various measures of health between the privileged and the deprived still remain wide, despite the long-term tendency toward a healthier society. Some investigators believe the shift in the health care system in industrial countries from the principle of universal access to a more market-oriented system may be one cause of the growing disparities; rising income inequality is another potential culprit. Policy makers worldwide speak of more efficiently delivering  essential' health care---but disagree on what counts as essential and on the optimal mix of private and government components of service. After reviewing the economic and epidemiological literature on disparities in health and health care systems, the question of how to define  essential' health care is considered. The paper concludes with a discussion of the policy implications of the analysis.
ER  -