This paper analyze the association between height and chronic diseases in Portugal and the extent to which this relationship is mediated by education. The sample upon which the analysis is based comprised those participants in the 2005/2006 Portuguese National Health Interview Survey (n=28,433)...

The imperfect risk adjustment of prospective payment for hospitals may have dramatic consequences on equity. If the hospital is able to distinguish subgroups of patients with different expected costs within a group for which the risk-adjusted payment per admission is the same, it is likely to...

Equity in health care delivery is one of the objectives of the Portuguese health care system. To date, research on this issue has mainly focused on income-related equity. This is the first study to shed light on gender equity, using a large data base that includes all patients admitted with...

The cream skimming? effect in the insurance sector occurs when the insurer has the possibility to select individuals whose risk-adjusted per capita payment he considers to be above the expected cost level. To avoid this possibility of selection, the public authority has to determine a financing...

The Great Recession started in Portugal in 2009, coupled with severe austerity. This study examines its impact on hospital care utilization, interpreted as caused by demand-side effects (related to variations in population income and health) and supply-side effects (related to hospitals’...