Rising rates of obesity are a public health concern in every industrialized country. This study investigates the relationship between obesity and health care expenditure in Australia, where the rate of obesity has tripled in the last three decades. Now one in four Australians is considered...

This paper examines the need for the parent and grandparent immigration program in Canada and provides critical observations on its objectives and operations and offers empirical estimates on its costs. And, as a contribution to the Government’s recently launched consultations on how to...

Health economists have largely ignored complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) as an area of research, although both clinical experiences and several empirical studies suggest cost-effectiveness of CAM. The objective of this paper is to explore the cost-effectiveness of CAM compared to...

Medicaid expenditures account for a sizeable proportion of U.S. GDP - $360.3 billion in 2009 or 2.55 percent of GDP. Despite this, the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (i.e. the new Obama healthcare initiative) further expands eligibility criteria for the Medicaid program. However, there is little...

Congestive heart failure (CHF) is a leading cause of hospitalization and mortality in the United States, affecting more than 5 million people at an expected cost of $34.8 billion in 2008. This article examines the association of medication adherence via the medication possession ratio with...

Continuity of ambulatory care in chronic disease affects the quality of care and the efficiency of healthcare spending. We assessed the relationship between initial continuity of ambulatory care and subsequent health outcomes (hospitalization, mortality and healthcare costs).