With the proposal of enormous changes in the health care systems of the United States and the United Kingdom, this study is a timely and topical exploration of the economics of financing health care. The editors provide an analytical perspective within which the choice of various health care systems can be evaluated. Economic arguments are presented which suggest why market failure is so extensive in this sector and, consequently, why regulation in both financing and provision is necessary. There is a full discussion of various problems in health care sector output measurement, the definition of efficiency, and the problems of monitoring performance. An insightful analysis of health care financing reform in the United Kingdom and the United States, this book provides a perspective from which various systems can be effectively evaluated.