International journal of health care finance and economics最新文献

We applied instrumental variable analysis to a sample of 388,690 Medicare beneficiaries predicted to be high-cost cases to estimate the effects of medical care use on the relative odds of death or experiencing an avoidable hospitalization in 2006. Contrary to conclusions from the observational geographic variations literature, the results suggest that greater medical care use is associated with statistically significant and quantitatively meaningful health improvements: a 10% increase in medical care use is associated with a 8.4% decrease in the mortality rate and a 3.8% decrease in the rate of avoidable hospitalizations.

This study estimates the effect of employment-based private health insurance (EPHI) on the use of covered health care services based on Danish survey data collected in 2009. The paper provides some of the first estimates of how EPHI affects the use of health care services in a Scandinavian context. The effect of EPHI is estimated using propensity score matching. This method is shown to provide plausible estimates given the institutional setting of EPHI in Denmark and a wide set of relevant covariates. Considering the full sample of occupationally active, it is found that EPHI does not significantly affect the probability of having had any hospitalisations, physiotherapist, chiropractor, psychologist, specialist, or ambulatory contacts within a 12 month period. Restricting the analysis to the subsample of privately employed, the estimated effects for ambulatory contacts and hospitalisation are somewhat higher and statistically significant. More precisely, it is found that EPHI increases the probability of hospitalisation from 5.1 to 8.5% and the probability of having had any ambulatory contacts from 17.9 to 23.3% among the privately employed.

The present paper attempts to provide a new measure of catastrophic out-of-pocket health expenditure based on consumption of necessities. In literature, catastrophic expenditure is measured as out-of-pocket health expenditure that exceeds some fixed proportion of household income or household's capacity to pay. According the new measure proposed in this paper, OOP health expenditure is catastrophic if it reduces the non-health expenditure to a level where household is unable to maintain consumption of necessities. Based on this measure of catastrophic health expenditure, the paper examines determinants of catastrophic out-of-pocket health expenditure in India. The results show that, incidence of catastrophic OOP health expenditure increases with income, when we use the earlier measures. However, results based on the revised measure show that, the incidence of catastrophic payments goes down as income increases. Therefore, the analysis suggests that the findings are sensitive to the method used. The findings from multivariate analysis show economic and social status of Indian households are important determinants of incidence of catastrophic health expenditure. Education reduces the probability of incurring catastrophic health expenditure. Moreover, these findings are sensitive to measure of catastrophic OOP health expenditure and therefore, it is important to consider appropriate measure of catastrophic OOP health expenditure.

We study how market conditions influence referrals of patients by general practitioners (GPs). We set up a model of GP referral for the Norwegian health care system, where a GP receives capitation payment based on the number of patients in his practice, as well as fee-for-service reimbursements. A GP may accept new patients or close the practice to new patients. We model GPs as partially altruistic, and compete for patients. We show that a GP operating in a more competitive market has a higher referral rate. To compete for patients and to retain them, a GP satisfies patients' requests for referrals. Furthermore, a GP who faces a patient shortage will refer more often than a GP who does not. Tests with Norwegian GP radiology referral data support our theory.

In countries where local governments are heavily involved in financing health care for the indigent, regional disparities in local revenues may adversely affect the access of the poor to medical care. It is thus important to examine how central governments provide funds for such local medical needs. In Japan, local governments finance all medical costs for the poor through their Public Assistance (PA) programs. Using the unique mechanism of the Japanese system of central grants, I construct a measure of "transfer deficit" which shows the portion of the PA expenditures that fails to be secured by the central grants. The distribution of such a measure provides important information to assess the regional equity in financing local programs. The results suggest a compromise on the regional equity in financing medical care for the indigent. Then, I explore the determinants of the deficit measure by performing a quantile regression analysis. Since no effects of potential determinants imply that the central grants well accommodate changes in local needs, finding such effects helps evaluate the performance of the transfer system. The results shows that, among others, the number of PA households and the factors related to mental illness of PA recipients have positive impacts that attenuate toward the top of the conditional quantile of the transfer deficit. I elaborate on plausible causes of such attenuating responses.

This paper explores price differences in the European Union (EU) pharmaceutical market, the EU's fifth largest industry. With the aim of enhancing quality of life along with industry competitiveness and R&D capability, many EU directives have been adopted to achieve a single EU-wide pharmaceutical market. Using annual 1994-2003 data on prices of molecules that treat cardiovascular disease, we examine whether drug price dispersion has indeed decreased across five EU countries. Hedonic regressions show that over time, cross-country price differences between Germany and three of the four other EU sample countries, France, Italy and Spain, have declined, with relative prices in all three as well as the fourth country, UK, rising during the period. We interpret this as evidence that the EU has come closer to achieving a single pharmaceutical market in response to increasing European Commission coordination efforts.

Since the beginning of 1980s, the Iranian health care system has undergone several reforms designed to increase accessibility of health services. Notwithstanding these reforms, out-of-pocket payments which create a barrier to access health services contribute almost half of total health are financing in Iran. This study aimed to provide a greater understanding about the inequality and determinants of the out-of-pocket expenditure (OOPE) and the related catastrophic expenditure (CE) for hospital services in Iran using a nationwide survey data, the 2003 Utilisation of Health Services Survey (UHSS). The concentration index and the Heckman selection model were used to assess inequality and factors associated with these expenditures. Inequality analysis suggests that the CE is concentrated among households in lower socioeconomic levels. The results of the Heckman selection model indicate that factors such as length of stay, admission to a hospital owned by private sector or Ministry of Health and Medical Education, and living in remote areas are positively associated with higher OOPE. Results of the ordered-probit selection model demonstrate that length of stay, lower household wealth index, and admission to a private hospital are major factors contributing to the increase in the probability of CE. Also, we find that households living in East Azarbaijan, Kordestan and Sistan and Balochestan face a higher level of CE. Based on our findings, the current employer-sponsored health insurance system does not offer equal protection against hospital expenditure in Iran. It seems that a single universal health insurance scheme that covers health services for all Iranian-regardless of their employment status-can better protect households from catastrophic health spending.

Health care providers may vertically integrate not only to facilitate coordination of care, but also for strategic reasons that may not be in patients' best interests. Optimal Medicare reimbursement policy depends upon the extent to which each of these explanations is correct. To investigate, we compare the consequences of the 1997 adoption of prospective payment for skilled nursing facilities (SNF PPS) in geographic areas with high versus low levels of hospital/SNF integration. We find that SNF PPS decreased spending more in high integration areas, with no measurable consequences for patient health outcomes. Our findings suggest that integrated providers should face higher-powered reimbursement incentives, i.e., less cost-sharing. More generally, we conclude that purchasers of health services (and other services subject to agency problems) should consider the organizational form of their suppliers when choosing a reimbursement mechanism.

This study examines the transferability of foreign human capital in nursing using the 1988-2004 National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses (NSSRN). In contrast with theoretical predictions and previous studies, this research finds evidence that foreign nursing education commands a higher return than U.S. education, even after controlling for a rich set of covariates. Consistent with the literature, the estimates illustrate foreign experience earns a lower return than domestic experience in nursing. Analysis across subsamples reveals the counter-intuitive foreign education premium is driven by foreign nurses educated in English-speaking countries and those working in hospitals. These estimates suggest future research should take into account the heterogeneity in the returns on foreign education across occupations.

In rural Cameroon, many people have no access to quality healthcare services. This is largely attributed to lack of private out-of-pocket payment to finance healthcare services. A community-based prepayment health insurance scheme may be implemented to improve healthcare access in rural areas. This study examines the determinants of willingness-to-pay for a community-based prepayment healthcare system using a contingent valuation method conducted in rural Cameroon. To mitigate potential hypothetical bias, a consequential script is introduced in the questionnaire. The results indicate age, religion, profession, knowledge of community-based health insurance, awareness of usual practice in rural areas, involvement in association and disposable income are the key determinants of willingness to pay for a prepayment health scheme. On average, willingness to pay for the scheme by rural households is 1011 CFA francs/person/month (2.15 US dollars). The results underlie two important implications: first, there is substantial demand for a community healthcare prepayment scheme by rural poor households in Cameroon; second, rural households are averse to health shocks and hence they are willing to sacrifice monthly premium payments to protect themselves (and their households) from unforeseen health-related risks. If government could engage in social marketing strategies such as mass media campaigns and awareness, this could prove vital for encouraging participation by the rural poor in healthcare prepayment scheme in Cameroon.