Three important issues have recently attracted researchers to study the economics of disability. First with the availability of sophisticated data sets, it has become possible to conduct highly quantative investigations of the relative economic impacts of various types of disabling health...

While much research has focused on the costs of obesity and economic factors that drive obesity growth, little economic research has examined the factors that contribute to obesity -- physical inactivity and poor nutrition. This paper will examine correlates and predictors of physical activity...

Employment-based health insurance is the main source of health coverage for the non-elderly. Few previous studies have examined the factors that impact employer decision-making in selecting the coverage to offer to their employees and none have examined generosity of mental health coverage. This...

In 1992, the United States Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) introduced new insurance coverage for two preventive services influenza vaccinations and mammograms. Economists typically assume transactions occur with perfect information and foresight. As a test of the value of...

Background: Rising public and private expenditure on antipsychotic medications is concentrated on the cost of second generation or `atypical' medications, which are more expensive than first generation medications and make up a rapidly growing share of all antipsychotic prescriptions. Previous...

Background: Injury is the leading cause of death for persons aged 1-44 years in the United States. Injuries have a substantial economic cost. For that reason, regional systems of trauma care in which the more acutely injured patients are transported to Level-I (L-I) trauma centers (TCs) has been...

With the spread of cost-based hospital payment systems in the United States in the 1960s, and the implementation of the Medicare and Medicaid programs in 1966, rapidly rising hospital costs imposed unexpected pressures on Federal and state budgets and generated a demand for regulatory...