This paper examines the impact of coinsurance exemption for prescription medicines applied to elderly individuals in Spain after retirement. To evaluate this coinsurance change we use a rich administrative dataset that links pharmaceutical consumption and hospital discharge records for the full...

The major German health care reforms undertaken since the late 1990s resulted in the adoption of selective contracting mechanisms in a formerly sectorally separated health care system. These reforms marked the launch of managed care in Germany that is expected to yield both a higher quality of...

This paper presents a simple two-period overlapping generations model that contains environmental and health issues. It investigates an intergenerational conflict between old and young generations as regards two defensive expenditures offsetting the influence of a worsening environment...

Summary Relevant publications discuss the relation between the demographic process and per-capita health care expenditures (HCE) in a controversial manner. This concerns theory as well as the results of empirical research. Therefore, this paper discusses the influence of an ageing population on...

Summary Health care may be similar to the work Sisyphus, a Greek hero who was condemned by the Gods to push a big rock up a hill only to see it slip out of his hands before making it to the top. To see why there my be a Sisyphus syndrome in health, consider an initial decision to devote more...

Studies on the effect of ageing on health care expenditures (HCE) have revealed the importance of controlling for time-to-death (TTD). These studies, however, are subject to possible endogeneity if HCE influences remaining life expectancy. This paper introduces a ten year observational period on...

La contención del gasto sanitario es uno de los retos más importante a los que se enfrentan las políticas públicas de los países desarrollados. En este trabajo se muestra evidencia de que existen diferencias significativas en el nivel de eficiencia del gasto sanitario entre países, de...

La contención del gasto sanitario es uno de los retos más importante a los que se enfrentan las políticas públicas de los países desarrollados. En este trabajo se muestra evidencia de que existen diferencias significativas en el nivel de eficiencia del gasto sanitario entre países, de...

In this article Jochen Hartwig replies to Antanda's and Reed's replication study published earlier this year (IREE, 2020-1).