Money and Medicine: A Historial Review of Health Spending from Ancient Times to the Present

By Thomas E. Getzen, this unique historical review provides an in-depth look at the dynamics of health expenditures from ancient civilizations to the present day, forecasting 21st-century trends.

Unlike traditional histories of medicine, Money and Medicine assesses the transformation of health spending over decades and centuries, highlighting the shift from solo physician practices to health systems and the legacy effects of social practices accumulated over millennia.

A Unified Narrative of Medical Spending

Getzen draws on a wealth of historical reports, data, and documents to provide a comprehensive narrative of medical spending from ancient Egypt and Babylonia to the present day. He focuses on a single ratio – the share of income devoted to medical care – to frame the evolutionary path of medicine, revealing an S-shaped growth curve.

The growth curve started rising rapidly after 1900 as science made therapies more effective and expensive, inflected as national health systems coalesced, and rates of expansion peaked in the 1960s. It then decelerated after 1975, as Getzen illustrates with graphical representations of international trends in forty-three countries.

Understanding Health Spending Trends

Getzen’s analysis supports a parsimonious financial model, revealing significant lags between medical innovation or macroeconomic shocks and the corresponding changes in national health expenditures. He explains the inertial responses to the 2008 financial crisis and Covid-19 recession, providing a method for projecting trends over the next fifty years.

One of the most pressing questions addressed in Money and Medicine is why health spending is so much higher in the United States than in other countries. Getzen’s work provides valuable insights into this issue, shedding light on the underlying factors driving health spending.

A Call to Action

In the face of rising costs and unequal distribution of medical care, Money and Medicine emphasizes the need to look beyond the last few years to craft sensible solutions. By examining the historical context of health spending, we can better understand the complexities of the issue and develop more effective strategies for the future.

Product Details:

Published by Oxford University Press on November 18, 2022

Language: English

Hardcover: 360 pages

ISBN-10: 0197573266

ISBN-13: 978-0197573266