| Summary: | The market is demand and supply. Health is a cherished possession that, morally above all value, nonetheless has a cost in a world that cannot provide all things to all persons. This book is concerned with the quantity of health status and health care consumed - and with the price that must be paid. After a short introduction, the book considers the demand for health that originates with the patient, the practitioner and the public that has an interest of its own. A section on the principles and provision of health insurance makes the point that the funds which pay for the treatment are often not taken from the pocket of the consumer who enjoys the service. The book examines the four sources of the supply of health: the individual, the community, the doctor and the hospital. It concludes with a discussion of the market valuation of a human life that analyses the ethical, economic and collective choices faced by a society in which only scarcity is freely available
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