We examine whether China's remarkable reduction in income poverty has been accompanied by comparable progress in health. Our findings are fourfold: (a) province-level rates of improvement in life expectancy were higher in the 1990s than in the 1970s and the 1980s, and were lowest in the 1980s....

Recent increases in mortality have brought life expectancy back to the forefront of the public health debate in the US. Though unprecedented, this trend comes after an equally striking phenomenon: a decades long deterioration in the relative position of the US in the world's life expectancy...

Poverty and income inequality have worsened since the onset of the crisis. While the design of fiscal measures has mitigated the burden sharing of fiscal adjustment, as the recession has deepened unemployment has risen, earnings have declined and social tensions have increased. Getting people...

Brazil has made remarkable progress in reducing poverty and inequality. This reduction is explained by strong growth but also by effective social policies. Besides growth, public services and cash transfers have played the biggest role, the latter notably through the successful “Bolsa...

The authors analyze the effect of unintended consequences and unconscious gender-based bias on attempts at health policy reform in the United States. Recent reforms in national health policy that would seem to address issues particularly relevant to women have been more symbolic than substantive...

Socio-economic issues, such as poverty levels and high levels of unemployment are among the impediments to accessing healthcare services which results in poor health outcomes. In rural areas, insufficient infrastructure and roads make it challenging to reach a health centre. In some instances,...

Germany’s healthcare system is praised as one of the best in the world. In this article, we review Germany’s health system by critically analysing its structure, funding, resource allocation, provider payments, efficiency, health outcomes, and access. Whilst health provision and access are...

We investigate the evolution of health over the life-cycle. We allow for two sources of persistence: unobserved heterogeneity and state dependence. Estimation indicates that there is a large degree of heterogeneity. For half the population, there are modest degrees of state dependence. For the...

This paper examines satisfaction with various aspects of health care by type of health plan among three groups of health-plan enrollees: those with a consumer-driven health plan (CDHP), those with a high-deductible health plan (HDHP), and those with traditional coverage. The findings presented...