While many studies have examined the cost-containment aspect of Medical savings accounts (MSA), few have investigated the adequacy of MSA to finance the health care expenditure. This paper estimates the present value of lifetime healthcare expenses (PVHE) of the Singaporean male and female...

The aim of the paper is to present new evidence on the relationship between income and health care expenditure allowing for (i) substitution and complementary relationships between private and public health care expenditure, (ii) presence of structural breaks in the dependent variables, and...

Most systems of health care financing in EU member states currently include elements of income redistribution. The paper analyzes the effects of shifting this kind of redistribution to the tax system and argues that this reform could create two types of efficiency gains. On the expenditure side,...

Most systems of health care financing in EU member states currently include elements of income redistribution. The paper analyzes the effects of shifting income redistribution entirely to the tax system, while confining public health systems to their insurance role. We argue that this reform...

How should health services be allocated if we wish to equalize opportunities among citizens of a country for longevity, or quality - adjusted life years (QUALYs)? Equalizing opportunities means leveling off the differences in the objective (say, longevity) due to circumstances beyond the...

From 2004 to 2012, the German social health insurance levied a co-payment for the first doctor visit in a calendar quarter. We develop a new model for estimating the effect of such a co-payment on the individual number of visits per quarter. The model allows for a one time increase in the...

Quantity rationing is widely used by the traditional literature on public health care expenditure determination as a means to justify the coexistence of the private health care sector. However, this artefact is not suitable for a wide range of health care services that have an "all or nothing"...

Medicare Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) represent the nation’s largest initiative of Medicare alternative payment models toward value and health outcomes. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have tested various ACO models with differential risk structures, and have issued...