Cream skimming is an illegal behaviour that consists in choosing to treat patients according to their ability to recover. It arises from the use of prospective payment schemes in an asymmetry of information framework. In this context in fact the provider can observe some relevant information...

Recent health system reforms have introduced prospective payments and free choice by patients. The expected outcome is efficiency in production and a high quality level for the services provided. The former should be obtained by the prospective payment scheme; the latter by the demand mechanism,...