title: What should a country spend on health care?
abstract: Per capita health spending across countries ranges by more than 100 to 1, leading many people to ask, "What should a country spend on health care?" This paper discusses four approaches to this question and demonstrates how each approach, in effect, answers a slightly different question, all of which are important to public policy decisions regarding health care spending. The paper also addresses a commonly cited World Health Organization statement that countries should spend 5 percent of national income on health care services.
authors.affiliation: Social Insight, Portland, Maine, USA. savedoff@socialinsight.org
authors.forename: William D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Savedoff
mesh_terms: D002017:Budgets / Q000592:standards / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D002648:Child; D046688:Child Mortality; D003362:Cost-Benefit Analysis; D003431:Cross-Cultural Comparison; D003695:Delivery of Health Care / Q000191:economics*; D019049:Developed Countries / Q000191:economics; D003906:Developing Countries / Q000191:economics; D005381:Financing, Organized / Q000592:standards* / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006291:Health Policy / Q000191:economics*; D006801:Humans; D007182:Income / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D011634:Public Health / Q000191:economics* / Q000592:standards; D014944:World Health Organization