Introduction: Beginning in 1992, governments throughout Canada began reducing expenditures in an effort to eliminate fiscal deficits and reduce their alarmingly high debt burden. As part of this deficit-fighting era, governments reduced hospital expenditure levels quite dramatically. Some of the...

Introduction: Studies have demonstrated that co-payments on medication reduce the consumption of both non-essential and essential drugs, and that the latter can lead to worse health outcomes. Far less is known about how patients cope with the cost of medication, particularly if affordability is...

Population-based risk adjustment, as applied to reimbursement in managed care settings, may reduce pressures for adverse selection by managed care organisations. Using insurance claims data from 184

Background:Background: A recent health reform proposal in South Africa proposes universal access to a comprehensive package of healthcare services in the public sector, through the implementation of a national health insurance (NHI) scheme. Implementation of the scheme is likely to involve the...

Background:Background: Studies have determined the societal impact of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) by modelling its impact on labour supply and productivity. In addition, most of the studies on the topic conclude that the problem of resistance should be counteracted on the...

Background: Tobacco smoking is one of the leading public health problems in the world. It is also possible to prevent and/or reduce the harm from tobacco use through the use of cost-effective tobacco control measures. However, most of this evidence comes from developed countries and little...

Background: Alcohol consumption is associated with a range of health and social harms that increase with the level of consumption. Policy makers are interested in effective and cost-effective interventions to reduce alcohol consumption and associated harms. Economic theory and research evidence...

Background: In Australia and elsewhere, fiscal measures such as alcohol taxation are a commonly used intervention and cost-effective strategy to reduce alcohol consumption and associated harm. However, alcohol taxation policies distort the market for alcohol, specifically increasing the marginal...

Background: The Food and Drug Administration Modernization Act (FDAMA) of 1997, Best Pharmaceuticals for Children Act (BPCA) of 2002 and Pediatric Research Equity Act of 2007 provide an extended period of 6 months of marketing exclusivity (i.e. patent extension) to prescription drug...