Does More Public Health Spending Buy Better Health?
Background: In this article, we attempt to address a persistent question in the health policy literature: Does more public health spending buy better health? This is a difficult question to answer due to unobserved differences in public health across regions as well as the potential for an endogenou...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
SAGE Publishing
2015-04-01
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| Series: | Health Services Research & Managerial Epidemiology |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1177/2333392815580750 |
| _version_ | 1819111259695480832 |
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| author | James Marton Jaesang Sung Peggy Honore |
| author_facet | James Marton Jaesang Sung Peggy Honore |
| author_sort | James Marton |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Background: In this article, we attempt to address a persistent question in the health policy literature: Does more public health spending buy better health? This is a difficult question to answer due to unobserved differences in public health across regions as well as the potential for an endogenous relationship between public health spending and public health outcomes. Methods: We take advantage of the unique way in which public health is funded in Georgia to avoid this endogeneity problem, using a twelve year panel dataset of Georgia county public health expenditures and outcomes in order to address the “unobservables” problem. Results: We find that increases in public health spending lead to increases in mortality by several different causes, including early deaths and heart disease deaths. We also find that increases in such spending leads to increases in morbidity from heart disease. Conclusions: Our results suggest that more public health funding may not always lead to improvements in health outcomes at the county level. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-22T03:54:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-cbc3805dda394a2580dfce021e6fae5c |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2333-3928 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-22T03:54:47Z |
| publishDate | 2015-04-01 |
| publisher | SAGE Publishing |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Health Services Research & Managerial Epidemiology |
| spelling | doaj.art-cbc3805dda394a2580dfce021e6fae5c2022-12-21T18:39:54ZengSAGE PublishingHealth Services Research & Managerial Epidemiology2333-39282015-04-01210.1177/233339281558075010.1177_2333392815580750Does More Public Health Spending Buy Better Health?James Marton0Jaesang Sung1Peggy Honore2Department of Economics, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USADepartment of Economics, Andrew Young School of Policy Studies, Georgia State University, Atlanta, GA, USALouisiana State University Health Science Center School of Public Health, New Orleans, LA, USABackground: In this article, we attempt to address a persistent question in the health policy literature: Does more public health spending buy better health? This is a difficult question to answer due to unobserved differences in public health across regions as well as the potential for an endogenous relationship between public health spending and public health outcomes. Methods: We take advantage of the unique way in which public health is funded in Georgia to avoid this endogeneity problem, using a twelve year panel dataset of Georgia county public health expenditures and outcomes in order to address the “unobservables” problem. Results: We find that increases in public health spending lead to increases in mortality by several different causes, including early deaths and heart disease deaths. We also find that increases in such spending leads to increases in morbidity from heart disease. Conclusions: Our results suggest that more public health funding may not always lead to improvements in health outcomes at the county level.https://doi.org/10.1177/2333392815580750 |
| spellingShingle | James Marton Jaesang Sung Peggy Honore Does More Public Health Spending Buy Better Health? Health Services Research & Managerial Epidemiology |
| title | Does More Public Health Spending Buy Better Health? |
| title_full | Does More Public Health Spending Buy Better Health? |
| title_fullStr | Does More Public Health Spending Buy Better Health? |
| title_full_unstemmed | Does More Public Health Spending Buy Better Health? |
| title_short | Does More Public Health Spending Buy Better Health? |
| title_sort | does more public health spending buy better health |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1177/2333392815580750 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT jamesmarton doesmorepublichealthspendingbuybetterhealth AT jaesangsung doesmorepublichealthspendingbuybetterhealth AT peggyhonore doesmorepublichealthspendingbuybetterhealth |