Health Demography and Public Policy

Abstract

The interface between demography and healthcare at the policy level is reflected in both population policies and health policies. In fact, it is difficult to separate population policies and health policies due the impact they have upon each other. The enactment of healthcare policies will inevitably have implications for the demographic processes of the society, affecting fertility levels (e.g., through abortion policies), morbidity patterns (e.g., through health insurance coverage), and mortality (e.g., through research funding priorities). Healthcare policies may even affect immigration patterns, as in the case of now-abolished policies prohibiting the immigration of people infected by AIDS.