Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to estimate the key socio‐economic and demographic factors influencing the utilization of antenatal care services in Ghana. Design/methodology/approach – The paper utilizes the most recent Ghana Demographic and Health Survey (GDHS V) data. The...

Purpose – The social safety net of health care insurance is rapidly expanding in rural China. New Rural Cooperative Medical System (NRCMS) programs proliferated between the national decree of 2002 and 2008, moving from a situation where less than 10 per cent of the rural population had access...

Purpose – Since 1999, China has undergone reform of its healthcare system. City‐based social health insurance (SHI) is the primary form of current health insurance, supplemented by various commercial health insurance programs. The rural new cooperative medical system (NCMS) was introduced in...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the adverse selection in participation in the New Rural Cooperative Medical Scheme (NRCMS), as well as in outpatient and inpatient service utilization, in Chaoyang, Beijing, China. Design/methodology/approach – Probit model is established to...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate recent healthcare reform in the USA, which allows insurance companies to proactively intervene in improving the long-term health of employees, by providing wellness programs as part of their benefits package. Design/methodology/approach –...

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to investigate first, the consumer buying behaviour and claims pattern of medical and health insurance (MHI)/medical and health takaful (MHT) policies and second, to determine whether moral hazard exists among policyholders at the time of application for...

Two recent changes in health policy will likely negatively impact state budgets and the health of low-income Californians with chronic disease. The new cost-sharing for medical visits, pharmaceuticals, and inpatient stays in California’s Medcaid program (Medi-Cal) and the exclusion of the...

On March 23, 2010, President Barack Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) into law. The law, which includes provisions to rein in the cost of health care and improve the health delivery system, will be phased in over several years. In the interim, this signature...

Americans’ health insurance coverage is not static; people cycle in and out of coverageand between sources of coverage during life transitions like losing a job, changing jobs, moving, or divorce. The Affordable Care Act creates an unprecedented opportunity to address the gaps in health coverage...

This paper studies the interactions between health insurance and the incentives for innovation. Although we focus on pharmaceutical innovation, our discussion applies to other industries producing novel technologies for sale in markets with subsidized demand. Standard results in the growth and...