In the last half century, the different healthcare systems of the world countries have undergone fundamental transformations in the structural designs, institutional regulations, and socio-economic and demographic dimensions. The nations have allocated a rising share of total economic resources...

Most causes and correlates of short-run (1 to 3 year) fluctuations in health care costs and insurance premiums are unrelated to long term trend or “drift,” and thus pose quite different problems with regard to accuracy and bias. Short-run variation is dominated by lagged inflation, wage...