Abstract
When discussing the causes of ever-rising costs of health care, policy makers sooner or later point to the failure of modern medicine. If modern medicine is so effective in increasing chances of survival, devoting additional resources to the health care sector must result in increased longevity. In turn, the increased number of aging survivors will exert an increased demand for medical services. Thus, modern medicine would result in a Sisyphus syndrome, reminiscent of the unfortunate Greek hero who never succeeded in pushing a rock to the top of the hill because it kept slipping off at the last moment. The more resources allocated to health, the greater the success of medicine in terms of longevity; the longer the lifespan, however, the higher the outlay on medical services. These two simultaneous relationships will be called the Sisyphus syndrome in health care henceforth.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Auster, R., I. Leveson, and D. Sarachek, “The Production of Health, an Exploratory Study”, in: The Journal of Human Resources, 4(4), 411–436, 1969.
Barer, M.L., et al., “Aging and Health Care Utilization: New Evidence and Old Fallacies”, in: Social Science and Medicine, 24(10), 551–862, 1987.
Bös, D., and R.K. von Weizsäcker, “Economic Consequences of an Aging Population”, in: European Economic Review, 33, 345–354, 1989.
Breusch, T.S., and A.R. Pagan, “The Lagrange Multiplier Test and Its Applications to Model Specification in Econometrics”, in: Review of Economic Studies, 47, 239–253, 1980.
Cochrane, A.L., A.S. St. Leger, and F. Moore, “Health Service Input and Mortality Output in Developed Countries”, in: Journal of Epidemiology mid Community Health, 32, 200–205, 1978.
Culyer, A.J., “Cost Containment in Europe”, in: Health Care Financing Review, 1989 Annual Supplement, 21–32, 1989.
Denton, F.T., S. Neno Li, B.G. Spencer, “Health Care in the Economic-demographic System: Macro-effects of Market Control, Government Intervention, and Population Change”, in: Southern Economic Journal, 55(1), 37–56, 1988.
Duckett, S.J., “Structural Interests and Australian Health Policy”, in: Social Science and Medicine, 18(11), 959–966, 1984.
Efron, B., “Bootstrap Methods: Another Look at the Jackknife”, in: Annals of Statistics, 1, 1–26, 1979.
Freedman, D.A., and S.C. Peters, “Bootstrapping a Regression Equation: Some Empirical Results”, in: Journal of the American Statistical Association, 79 (385), 97–106, 1984.
Fries, J.F., “Aging, Natural Death, and the Compression of Morbidity”, in: New England Journal of Medicine, 303(3), 130–135, 1980.
Fuchs, V.R., “Though Much is Taken. Reflections on Aging, Health, and Medical Care”, NBER Working Paper No. 1269, Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research, 1984.
Gerdtham, U.-G., F. Andersson, J. Sogaard, and B. Jönsson, “Economic Analysis of Health Care Expenditures: A Cross-sectional Study of the OECD Countries”, CMT Report No. 1988–9, Linköping, Sweden, 1988.
Gruenberg, E.M., “The Failures of Success”, in: Health and Society, 55(1), 3–24, 1977.
Hadley, J., “Medicare Spending and Mortality Rates of the Elderly”, in: Inquiry, 25(4), 485–493, 1988.
Judge, G.G., W.E. Griffiths, R. Carter Hill, T.-C. Lee, and H. Lütkepohl, The Theory and Practice of Econometrics, 2nd ed., New York: John Wiley and Sons, 1985.
Kleiman, E., “The Determinants of National Outlay on Health”, in: Perlman, M. (ed.), The Economics of Health and Medical Care, London: Macmillan, 66–81, 1974.
Leu, R.E., “The Public-private Mix and International Health Care Costs”, in: Culyer, A.J. and B. Jönsson, (eds.), Public and Private Health Services, Oxford: Basil Blackwell, 41–63, 1986.
Leu, R.E., and R.J. Doppmann, “Gesundheitszustand und Nachfrage nach Gesundheitsleistungen (Health Status and Demand for Health Care Services)”, in: Wille, E. (ed.), Informations- und Planungsprobleme in öffentlichen Aufgabenbereichen, Bern: P. Lang, 1–90, 1986.
Lubitz, J., and R. Prihoda, “Use and Costs of Medicare Services in the Last Years of Life”, in: Health Care Financing Review, 6 (1), Spring 1984.
Malthus, T.R., Essay on Population, 1803. New York: Random House, 1960.
McKeown, T. The Modern Rise of Population, London: Edward Arnold, 1976.
McKinlay, J.B., S.M. Mc Kinlay, and R. Beaglehole, “A Review of the Evidence Concerning the Impact of Medical Measures on Recent Mortality and Morbidity in the United States”, in: International journal of Health Services, 19(2), 181–208, 1989.
Myers, G.C., and K.G. Manton, “Compression of Mortality: Myth or Reality?”, in: The Gerontologist, 24(4), 346–353, 1984.
Newhouse, J.P., “Medical-care Expenditure: A Crossnational Survey”, in: Journal of Human Resources, 12(1), 115–125, 1977.
Newhouse, J.P., et al., “Some Interim Results from a Controlled Trial of Cost Sharing in Health Insurance”, Report No. R-2847–HHS, Santa Monica: Rand Corporation, 1982.
Newhouse, J.P., and L.J. Friedlander, “The Relationship Between Medical Resources and Health: Some Additional Evidence”, in: Journal of Human Resources, XV(2), 200–218, 1980.
Newhouse, J.P., and Ch.E. Phelps, “New Estimates of Price and Income Elasticities of Medical Care Services”, in: Rosett, R.N. (ed.), The Role of Health Insurance in the Health Services Sector, New York: National Bureau of Economic Research, 261–312, 1976.
OECD, Public Expenditure on Health, Paris, 1977.
OECD, Measuring Health Care. 1960–1983. Expenditure, Cost, and Performance, Paris, 1985.
OECD, Financing and Delivering Health Care. A Comparative Analysis of OECD Countries, Paris, 1987.
Parkin, D., A. McGuire, and B. Yule, “Aggregate Health Care Expenditures and National Income: Is Health Care a Luxury Good?”, in: Journal of Health Economics, 6, 109–127, 1987.
Peltzman, S., “Regulation and Health: The Case of Mandatory Prescriptions and an Extension”, in: Managerial and Decision Economics, 8, 41–46, 1987.
Sachverständigenrat für die Konzertierte Aktion im Gesundheitswesen, Medizinische und ökonomische Orientierung. (Medical and Economic Guideposts), Baden-Baden: Nomos, 1987.
Schmidt, P., “Estimation of Seemingly Unrelated Regressions with Unequal Numbers of Observations”, in: Journal of Econometrics, 5, 365–377, 1977.
Schneider, E.L., and J.A. Brody, “Aging, Natural Death, and the Compression of Morbidity: Another View”, in: New England Journal of Medicine, 309(14), 854–856, 1983.
Schofield, R., “Population Growth in the Century After 1750: The Role of Mortality Decline”, in: Bengtsson, T., G. Fridlizius, and R. Ohlsson, (eds.) Pre-industrial Population Change, Stockholm: Almquist and Wiksell, 17–40, 1981.
Scitovsky, A.A., “Medical Care in the Last Twelve Months of Life: The Relation Between Age, Functional Status, and Medical Care Expenditures”, in: Milbank Memorial Fund Quarterly, 66(4), 640–660, 1988.
United Nations Demographic Yearbook 1985, New York, 1987.
United Nations International Conference on Population Mortality and Health Policy, New York: UN, ST/ESA/SER.A/91, 1984.
Van Doorslaer, E.K.A. Health, Knowledge, and the Demand for Medical Care. An Econometric Analysis, Assum/Maastricht: Van Gorcum, 1987.
Wedig, G.J., “Health Status and the Demand for Health: Results on Price Elasticities”, in: Journal of Health Economics, 7(2), 151–164, 1988.
Wolfe, B.L., “Health Status and Medical Expenditures: Is There a Link?”, in: Social Science and Medicine, 22(10), 993–999, 1986.
Wolfe, B., and M. Gabay, “Health Status and Medical Expenditures: More Evidence of a Link”, in: Social Science and Medicine, 25(8), 883–888, 1987.
Zellner, A., “An Efficient Method of Estimating Seemingly Unrelated Regressions and Tests of Aggregation Bias”, in: Journal of the American Statistical Association, 57, 348–368, 1962.
Zweifel, P., “Zu den Folgen des Geburtenrückgangs für das Gesundheitswesen (Consequences of the Fertility Decline for the Health Care Sector)”, in: Recktenwald, H.C. (ed.), Der Rückgang der Geburten — Folgen auf längere Sicht, Düsseldorf: Verlag Wirtschaft und Finanzen, 298–304, 1989.
Zweifel, P., “Die Kosten-Versicherungs-Spirale im schweizerischen Gesundheitswesen (The Cost-Insurance Spiral in the Swiss Health Care Sector)”, in: Schweiz. Zeitschrift für Volkswirtschaft und Statistik, 3 (122), 555–583, 1986.
Zweifel, P., “Was ist eine zusätzliche Million für das Gesundheitswesen wert? (Another Million for Swiss Health Care: What Would it be Worth?)”, in: Schweiz. Zeitschrift für Volkswirtschaft und Statistik, 114, 449–474, 1978.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Zweifel, P., Ferrari, M. (1992). Is there a Sisyphus Syndrome in Health Care?. In: Zweifel, P., Frech, H.E. (eds) Health Economics Worldwide. Developments in Health Economics and Public Policy, vol 1. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-2392-1_15
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-011-2392-1_15
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-010-5055-5
Online ISBN: 978-94-011-2392-1
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive