We discuss that Japan should make a comprehensive reform of the existing institutions of health insurance in view of the apparent structural problems centering on the financial instability of health care finance, and discrepancies in premiums and benefits among the insured.

This paper estimates the redistributive effects of welfare state expenditures on social and economic disparities in the economic well-being of citizens in ten nations. Data from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and other sources for cash and non-cash social...

We reexamine the well-publicized claim that "rapid mass privatisation [of state-owned enterprises] . . . was a crucial determinant of differences in adult mortality trends in postcommunist countries" (Stuckler, King and McKee, 2009). Our analysis shows that the estimated correlation of...

Industrialised countries face similar challenges for improving the performance of their health system. Nevertheless the nature and intensity of the reforms required are largely determined by each country's basic social security model. This paper looks at the main differences in performance of...

Internationale Vergleiche von Krankenhausleistungen sind bislang selten. Die vorliegende Analyse untersucht die Effizienz der Krankenhäuser in Sachsen und der Schweiz mittels der Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA), einem Verfahren zur Ermittlung der effizienten Grenze. Dabei wird im Sinne eines...

This study examines the impact of health system characteristics on social inequities in health care use in Europe, using data from national surveys in 13 European countries. Multilevel logistic regression models are estimated to separate the individual level determinants of generalist and...

This paper compares and contrasts outpatient pharmaceutical policies for the elderly in seven OECD nations: Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States. Each country is facing an increasing financial burden due to rapidly growing numbers of elderly...

La Tarification à l’activité (T2A), liant le financement des établissements de santé à leur production de soins, est devenue le mode de paiement le plus répandu en Europe pour améliorer l’efficience. En incitant les établissements à mieux évaluer et gérer cette production, la T2A...

Venezuela’s current growth is generally described as unsustainable, with various negative scenarios put forth, including spiraling debt, inflation, and balance of payments crises. However, these pessimistic forecasts have been far off the mark for most of the past decade. This paper looks at...