Quality competition among hospitals, induced by patients freely choosing their hospital in a price regulated market, can only be realized if quality differences between hospitals are transparent, understandable, and thus influence patients' hospital choice. We use data from ~145,000 German...

Motivated by widely publicized concerns that there are “too many” plans, we structurally estimate (and validate) an equilibrium model of the Medicare Part D market to study the welfare impacts of two feasible, similar-sized approaches for reducing choice. One reduces the maximum number of...

This primer aims to provide IMF macroeconomists with the essential information they need to address issues concerning health sector policy, particularly when they have significant macroeconomic implications. Such issues can also affect equity and growth and are fundamental to any strategy of...

In this paper we examine the recent change of health care policy reform in the Netherlands, which introduced elements of market competition into the system with the goals of strengthening solidarity, guaranteeing an equitable and cost-efficient health care market, and preserving individuals'...

This paper focuses on the question: Does public or private control of health care lead to greater healthcare system efficiency? The data analysis demonstrates a curvilinear relationship between government control over health care and health care system inefficiency and that, as a result, a...

This paper presents a set of indicators to assess health care system performance. It also presents new comparative data on health care policies and institutions for OECD countries. This set of indicators allows the empirical characterisation of health care systems and the identification of...

The years 2003-2004 marked the tenth anniversary of the rapid rise and demise of the Clinton administration's health reform efforts. Health reform may again be a political issue in the 2008 congressional and presidential elections. However, analysts still disagree over why large-scale health...

OECD countries have used a variety of mechanisms for subsidizing healthcare for more than a century. This paper demonstrates that an electoral model of healthcare policies can explain why various combinations of healthcare programs have been adopted and why they are modified through time. The...

This paper compares health care systems. It looks beyond normal academic, political, or journalistic rhetoric, by exactly sticking to facts, i.e. empirical data (in particular data provided by the WHO) and comprehensive case study analyses. The paper finds that a number of myths and common...