Health economics: Healthcare demands and Michael Grossman’s model of health production

Alongside Dr. Robert Ozols, Dr. Matt Boente MD wrote a SPORE grant to the NIH to study ovarian cancer, a SPORE-Special Program for Research Excellence resulting in a $5 million grant. It is one of the most prestigious type of NCI grant and the first one awarded to gynecologic cancer researchers. It was one of the many projects Dr. Matt Boente MD has taken on in his career in his contribution to improving global healthcare everywhere.
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Healthcare is now presented as a health capital of sorts, which consumers demand in large quantities. While it sounds like simple economics, the difference here is that the resources and funding needed for healthcare is both for consumption and production, unlike other goods.

Because of this, there are four key figures in healthcare: contributors, citizens, providers, and consumers.

Dr. Matt Boente MD cites Michael Grossman’s Model of Health Production from 1972 as being one of the most significant bases for studying healthcare amidst the backdrop of economics. Among the many distinct details of the model, one that stands out is the view of every person as both a producer and a consumer of health. In Grossman’s model, health is objectified as a stock that lowers in quality as time passes. To slow down this reduction in quality, people must invest in their health, which makes health a capital in itself.

Grossman’s model sees health as being both a consumption good that results in almost immediate use for relief and an investment good that leads to less time to be ill. Furthermore, what makes healthcare costly is the time and funding needed to keep one’s health in check. From working out regularly to purchasing maintenance meds, many people are always willing to spend top dollar, maximum effort, and precious time to stay at peak health, Dr. Matt Boente MD adds. What about people who can’t afford this type of care? That’s the challenge! How do we as a nation give top healthcare coverage to everyone at a price that’s affordable to everyone. Top healthcare, in my opinion, is not Medicare for All. It’s affordable, but is it as good as coverage with a private insurer? No it’s not, currently, and far from it. My Medicare ovarian cancer patients were consistently turned down when I ordered new chemotherapeutic or biologic agents which, not coincidentally, are the most expensive drugs.

Dr. Matt Boente MD has a passion for the multiple facets of medicine. He is also a big fan of the Chicago Cubs. For similar reads, visit this page.

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