This paper views cigarette taxation as a correction for health insurance distortions (an efficiency tax). The theoretical framework utilizes an individual expected utility maximizing consumer-optimal social planner model. From the model an optimal tax formula is derived. There are two main...

The optimal public insurance-taxation scheme is derived for a model with unobservable outcomes. If the government can only observe aggregate commodity expenditures, reimbursement insurance is constrained-efficient. However, two distortions accompany. First, consumers are induced to take (forego)...

This paper presents Tobit estimates of the demand for physician visits. Using the 1980 National Health Interview Survey and price data from the Tobacco Institute, estimates of the effect of cigarette prices on physician utilization are obtained. Statistically significant coefficients imply a...

Using data from the Current Population Surveys, we examine the impact of Hawaii’s mandatory employer-sponsored insurance on health insurance coverage and employment structure in Hawaii. We find empirical evidence of three phenomena. First, private employer-sponsored insurance coverage for...

Objectives- To develop a full taxonomy of potential benefits of HIV testing of hospital patients. To determine whether voluntary, routine testing of hospital patients for HIV is warranted under a cost-benefit criterion. To inform healthcare workers, hospital patients, and decision makers...

Most individuals who have health insurance in the U.S. obtain it through their employer. In some states the government mandates employers to provide insurance to certain types of workers. We use experimental laboratory to study how employer mandates affect labor market efficiency and the level...

This study investigates the impact of the State Children’s Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) expansion in Hawaii on health insurance coverage among low-income children ages 0 to 18 using the Current Population Survey. We employ a difference-in-differences approach by construction of a control...

Objectives- Public health officials have recommended universal condom use to prevent HIV infection, yet condom use varies widely across different demographic groups. We compute the benefits of condom use for individuals with different characteristics and investigate whether condom use rates are...