In this article, we discuss the public health provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA). We first set forth a framework to identify the key reforms that are needed for a robust public health system. These include workforce and infrastructure investments. We then assess...

This paper studies the performance of immigrants relative to natives, in terms of their health status, use of health care services, lifestyles, and coverage of health expenditures. We base the analysis on international evidence that identified a healthy immigrant effect, complemented by...

This paper uses data from the 2006 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance (BRFSS) System and information on state health insurance regulation tabulated by the Center for Affordable Health Insurance (CAHI) to examine the impact of health limitations on the factors determining whether a working-age...

On October 26, 2012, the University of Akron School of Law’s Center for Intellectual Property and Technology hosted its Sixth Annual IP Scholars Forum. In attendance were thirteen legal scholars with expertise and an interest in IP and public health who met to discuss problems and potential...

Virtual health is the sum of telehealth (patient–provider communication at a distance) and autonomous health (electronic devices communicating with providers and patients at a distance). The COVID-19 pandemic and its attendant social distancing led to a sharp increase in the use of virtual...

We use a Regression Discontinuity Design (RDD) to evaluate the impact of cost-sharing on the use of health services. In the Italian health system, individuals reaching age 65 and earning low incomes are given total exemption from cost-sharing for health services consumption. Since the...

There is much debate about the effects of pharmaceutical direct to consumer advertising (DTCA) on health care use. In this paper, we inform this debate by examining the effects of DTCA on office visits, as well as treatment courses resulting from those visits, for five common chronic conditions...

In this paper, I examine the impact of uninsured patients on the health of the insured, focusing on one health outcome | the in-hospital mortality rate of insured heart attack patients. I employ panel data models using patient discharge and hospital financial data from California (1999-2006). My...

Despite a culture of innovation, the U.S. health care system has been markedly deficient in its implementation of information technology (IT). Although recent initiatives have endeavored to remedy this shortcoming, fragmentation, high costs, information asymmetries, and evolving regulatory...