Every funding system creates “incentives.” However, in real policy applications, the motivating quality of a funding change is not inherent to the funding structure. Rather, contextual factors highly determine how organizations and individuals interpret, feel motivated by, and act in...

This paper explores the emergence, evolution and dominance of four predominant mean-ings of the concept of medical necessity that have been used in past and current health policy debates about the appropriate level of service coverage under Canada’s health insurance pro-gram. Data for this...

This paper describes a method for the case study of financial incentives in health care systems. This approach is for applying a conceptual framework that describes funding changes -- and their transformation into “financial incentives” that change behaviour -- as a communication process...

Greater recognition by economists of the influential role that concern for distributional equity exerts on decision making in a variety of economic contexts has spurred interest in empirical research on the public judgments of fair distribution. Using a stated-preference experimental design,...

Genetic testing has long been part of Canada’s health system, but the scope of genetic testing is growing into new areas. Whereas traditional tests predominantly foretell the health of future generations, new tests increasingly tell individuals about their own health and risks. And whereas...