Resource Allocation in Health Care: The Allocation of Lifestyles to Providers

The allocation of health care resources—the exchange of favors between providers of health services and their patients—can never be determined in a perfectly competitive market. Two distinct transfers are involved: one enhances the health status of patients; the other enhances the economic status of providers. At any given level of national expenditure it is unlikely that both real and monetary benefits will be maximized. More optimal allocations, which are efficient and just, will be arbitrated through administrative decree and political judgment in quasi markets.

Author(s): Uwe E. Reinhardt

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Volume 65, Issue 2 (pages 153–176)
Published in 1987