A Comprehensive Review of The Impact of Health Care Expenditure and Health Outcomes on Economic Growth

Abstract

<strong>Objectives:</strong> The unceasing increase of health care expenditures is a very crucial decision to take by most governments and has drawn the attention of scholars and policy makers to research and rethink about the effects on health status and economic growth. However, from open and available literature, it can be established that not much studies have considered this linkage. The study aims to bring to light and review the current state-of-art of all previous studies regarding the interplay between health spending, health outcome and economic growth within both high and middle-income countries.</p> <p><strong>Methods</strong><strong>: </strong>An electronic exploration was carried out in the academic databases below: Emerald, Google Scholar, PubMed, Science Direct, Springer, web of Science additionally JSTOR in English language between the period 1990 to 2018. </p> <p><strong>Results:</strong>  The results revealed mixed conclusion between health expenditure and population health. The findings of healthcare expenditure and economic growth shows a positive relationship mostly in the developed nations The study again found that better health status improves economic growth.</p> <p><strong>Conclusion:</strong> The outcome of the study appeared to foster more confusion as findings regarding association between health expenditure and health outcome have not been consistent. The research findings revealed   that there is still much to be done for scholars to build a strong theoretical base, on these connections to for an effective decision-making.