We present three types of evidence about the effect of cancer drug vintage-year of initial world launch - on cancer survival and mortality. All three are based on group-level data, and employ difference-in-difference research designs, which enable us to control for the influence of potentially...

What factors affect health care delivery in the developing world? Anecdotal evidence of lives cut tragically short and the loss of productivity due to avoidable diseases is an area of salient concern in global health and international development. This working paper looks at factual evidence to...

The creation of tax-free health savings accounts presents a new opportunity to reduce the distortions created by federal tax preferences for health-related expenditures, and ultimately help eliminate those distortions. This paper proposes changes to current law that would allow most workers to...

Far and away the biggest problem with the American health care system has to do with coverage. In 2004, for example, while 245.3 million Americans (84.2%) had some type of health care coverage, 45.8 million (15.7%) were without coverage. Clusters of individuals that tend to lack coverage include...

The aim of the study is to assess the maturity of Korean health care in comparison of OECD countries and to provide a foundation from which the quality and competitiveness of Korean health care system is evaluated. Using data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD),...

This paper examines accounts that can be used to pay for health care services on a tax-favored basis. Starting with health savings accounts (HSAs), the function of these accounts is described, followed by a discussion of issues related to the accounts, whether expectations for the accounts will...

Concerns about the health of poor children and mothers produced major changes in the Medicaid public insurance program during the last decade, including expansions in program eligibility and increases in fees paid to physicians who care for covered patients. We examine physician responses to...

The authors analyze the effect of unintended consequences and unconscious gender-based bias on attempts at health policy reform in the United States. Recent reforms in national health policy that would seem to address issues particularly relevant to women have been more symbolic than substantive...

Scholars of public health typically focus on societal equity for explaining public health outcomes. Indeed, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a spate of studies showing a tight connection between inequitable access to health, welfare services, and adverse outcomes from the pandemic. Others have...

Infectious diseases are is currently the main cause of mortality in the world and have been even more important historically. This paper reviews recent research in economic epidemiology. Specifically, it discusses the occurrence of infectious diseases and the effects of public health...