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on Health Economics |
| By: | NISHIKAWA Kohei; OHASHI Hiroshi |
| Abstract: | The purpose of this paper is to examine the effects of an incentive policy including general prescriptions in 2012 on the penetration of generic drugs. The notable results from our analysis are as follows: (1) The 2012 policy promoted the use of generic drugs by 7.7%; (2) The policy effects substantially differ by prefecture; and (3) Our estimates show that the 2012 policy help cut pharmaceutical expenses by 11.8 billion yen. |
| Date: | 2017–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:eti:rdpsjp:17039&r=hea |
| By: | Alexander, Diane (Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago) |
| Abstract: | Billions of dollars have been spent on pilot programs searching for ways to reduce healthcare costs. I study one such program, where hospitals pay doctors bonuses for reducing the total hospital costs of admitted Medicare patients (a “bundled payment”). Doctors respond to the bonuses by becoming more likely to admit patients whose treatment can generate high bonuses, and sorting healthier patients into participating hospitals. Conditional on patient health, however, doctors do not reduce costs or change procedure use. These results highlight the ability of doctors to game incentive schemes, and the risks of basing nationwide healthcare reforms on pilot programs. |
| Keywords: | Health care reform; Medicare |
| JEL: | I10 I11 I13 I18 |
| Date: | 2017–03–09 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedhwp:wp-2017-09&r=hea |
| By: | Diether Beuermann; Camilo Pecha |
| Abstract: | This study examines whether Jamaica's free public healthcare policy affected health status and labor supply of adult individuals. It compares outcomes of adults without health insurance versus their insured counterparts, before and after policy implementation. The study finds that the policy reduced both the likelihood of suffering illnesses with associated lost work days and the number of lost days due to illnesses by 28.6 percent and 34 percent, respectively. Consistent with the absence of "employment lock", no effects are found on employment at the extensive margin. However, consistent with a reduced number of days lost due to illnesses, there is a positive effect of 2.15 additional weekly labor hours. This is primarily a labor supply effect as the study shows that both reported and imputed hourly wages decreased by 0.15 and 0.06 log-points respectively. Back-of-the-envelope calculations suggest that the policy added a yearly average of US$PPP 26.6 million worth of net real production to the economy during the period 2008-12. |
| Keywords: | Health Policy, Health Insurance, Labor supply, Health Insurance Coverage, health Care Services, Public Health System, Healthcare Access, Labor Market Outcomes, health insurance, health policy |
| JEL: | O54 O12 J22 I1 H51 |
| Date: | 2016–11 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:idb:brikps:96656&r=hea |
| By: | Alexander, Diane (Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago); Schnell, Molly (Princeton University) |
| Abstract: | We examine whether relaxing occupational licensing to allow nurse practitioners (NPs)—registered nurses with advanced degrees—to prescribe medication without physician oversight is associated with improved population mental health. Exploiting time-series variation in independent prescriptive authority for NPs from 1990–2014, we find that broadening prescriptive authority is associated with improvements in self-reported mental health and decreases in mental-health-related mortality, including suicides. These improvements are concentrated in areas underserved by psychiatrists and among populations traditionally underserved by mental health providers. Our results demonstrate that extending prescriptive authority to NPs can help mitigate physician shortages and extend care to disadvantaged populations. |
| Keywords: | C-sections; Disability insurance; Medically underserved areas; Mental health; Nurse practitioner; Population |
| JEL: | I12 I13 I14 |
| Date: | 2016–12–20 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:fip:fedhwp:wp-2017-08&r=hea |
| By: | James Verdier; Danielle Chelminsky |
| Abstract: | This brief outlines strategies that states and health plans can use to grow their enrollment in Integrated Managed Care Plans for Dually Eligible Beneficiaries. |
| Keywords: | enrollment, dually eligible beneficiaries, state, health plan |
| JEL: | I |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:b74ae9ab960a40d9820a3dee0630f598&r=hea |
| By: | Boberg-Fazlic, Nina (University of Southern Denmark); Ivets, Maryna (University of Duisburg-Essen); Karlsson, Martin (University of Duisburg-Essen); Nilsson, Therese (Lund University) |
| Abstract: | This paper studies the effect of the 1918–19 influenza pandemic on fertility using a historical dataset from Sweden. Our results suggest an immediate reduction in fertility driven by morbidity, and additional behavioral effects driven by mortality. We find some evidence of community rebuilding and replacement fertility, but the net long-term effect is fertility reduction. In districts highly affected by the flu there is also an improvement in parental quality: we observe a relative increase in births to married women and better-off city dwellers. Our findings help understand the link between mortality and fertility, one of the central relations in demography, and show that several factors – including disruptions to marriage and labor markets – contribute to fertility reduction in the long term. Our results are consistent with studies that find a positive fertility response following natural disasters, but with high-quality historical data we show that this effect is short-lived. |
| Keywords: | 1918–19 influenza pandemic, influenza and pneumonia mortality, fertility, difference-in-differences |
| JEL: | I12 J11 J13 |
| Date: | 2017–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10834&r=hea |
| By: | Clark, Jeremy (University of Canterbury); Dickinson, David L. (Appalachian State University) |
| Abstract: | We implement a one-week partial sleep restriction protocol to investigate the effect of sleep deprivation on joint production in a standard voluntary contributions mechanism (VCM) experiment. Additionally, the effect of sleep restriction on an individual's likelihood of sending costly peer punishment is examined. Actigraphy sleep monitoring watches are used to validate that our random assignment to sleep restricted (SR) and well-rested (WR) conditions generates significant differences in both objective nightly sleep duration and subject sleepiness. Using multiple measures of sleep restriction, and non-parametric as well as regression analysis, we find that when punishment is not available, sleep restriction does not affect the contributions made to joint production. When punishment is available, we find weak evidence that SR subjects contribute more than WR subjects, but there is no evidence that SR and WR subjects differ in the amount they punish others. However, we also find that SR subject contributions are significantly more sensitive to the introduction of peer punishment. SR subject punishment decisions may also be more sensitive to the deviation of their contributions from other group members' contributions and more sensitive to having received punishment themselves. Our results have implications for understanding how the norm enforcement availability may differentially impact individuals depending on their current sleep state. |
| Keywords: | sleep restriction, sleep deprivation, social dilemma, VCM, punishment, experiments |
| JEL: | C92 D03 H40 I12 J24 |
| Date: | 2017–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:iza:izadps:dp10823&r=hea |
| By: | DO ANGO, Simplicio; AMBA OYON, Claude Marius |
| Abstract: | This paper examines the long-run economic relationship between health care expenditure and income in Economic Community of Central African States observed over the period 1995-2014. Particularly we study the non-stationarity and cointegration properties between health care spending and income, ultimately measuring income elasticity of health care. This is done in a panel data framework controlling for both cross-section dependence and unobserved heterogeneity. Specifically, in our regression equations we assume that the error is the sum of a multifactor structure and a spatial autoregressive process, which capture global shocks and local spill overs in health expenditure. Our findings reveal that the majority of the countries presents an income elasticity lower than one, confirming that health care is a necessity good |
| Keywords: | Health expenditure, income elasticity, cross section dependence, panels, ECCAS |
| JEL: | C31 C33 H51 |
| Date: | 2016 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pra:mprapa:79684&r=hea |
| By: | Audrey Laporte; Brian Ferguson |
| Abstract: | One problem with the Becker-Murphy model of Rational Addiction, at least in the eyes of many public health specialists, is that it does not explain why so many rational, forward looking, smokers should apparently find it so hard to quit, especially since the terminal conditions are part of an intertemporal optimization problem. In this paper we apply techniques of stochastic control theory to introduce uncertainty into the individual’s perception of how her stock of addiction will accumulate over time as a consequence of her time path of smoking. We assume that addiction capital is basically unobservable, so she cannot adjust her smoking behaviour according to a feedback policy rule but instead builds uncertainty into her consumption plan from the beginning. We discuss the differences between the equation explaining her lifetime smoking trajectory in the deterministic and stochastic cases, and find that the quadratic utility function which underlies the familiar lead-lag consumption form of rational addiction equation is not, in fact, capable of allowing for the type of uncertainty which we consider here. |
| Date: | 2017–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cch:wpaper:170004&r=hea |
| By: | Sara Paralta |
| Abstract: | Aging and diabetes influence employment and retirement of those older than 50.The aim of this study is to estimate the impact of diabetes on the ability to work or retire, and to investigate if the development of new job skills, for seniors aged more than 50, increase professional activity in a set of European countries. The fourth wave of the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement (SHARE) has been explored by using categorical models that control for age, gender, marital status, education level, new skills and country factors. Diabetes decreases the probable level of professional activity and prolongs retirement. Disparities have been found in the impact of diabetes on peoples' working situation in certain countries, which may be explained through the type of treatments of diabetes and overall by the specificities of each country's health systems. Finally, ageing only slightly increases the period of working, not enough to avoid earlier retirement globally in those European countries. |
| Date: | 2017–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cav:cavwpp:wp154&r=hea |
| By: | Elenka Brenna (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore; Dipartimento di Economia e Finanza, Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore) |
| Abstract: | In several countries, taxpayers are given the option to detract from gross taxation a share of their out of pocket healthcare expenditure. This paper investigates the use of Healthcare Tax Credits (HTCs) in Italy through the analysis of a panel data which provides information on individual income tax from 2008 to 2014. The study focuses on the disparities emerging in the use of HTCs between Northern and Southern regions: per capita HTCs, either weighted for general population or for the number of claimants, are higher in the North than in the South of Italy. The existing differences in the average income between the two regional clusters may drive to inequalities in the out of pocket expenditure for healthcare services; however, the observed North-South gradient could also reveal possible disparities in the ability of using HTCs, mainly due to socioeconomic factors. A fixed effects OLS model is run to examine the impact of selected socioeconomic variables on regional per capita HTCs, with a particular focus on the role of education. Results corroborate the regressive imprinting of HTCs supported by literature and provide highlights on the role of education in explaining HTCs distribution among regions. Public money is reimbursed to regions where people are on average richer and better educated. More equitable objectives could be reached by allocating the same resources in the provision of services covered by NHS. |
| Keywords: | Health-related tax credits, regional disparities, healthcare access, personal income tax. |
| JEL: | I14 H31 H51 |
| Date: | 2017–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ctc:serie1:def060&r=hea |
| By: | Iris Arends; Christopher Prinz; Femke Abma |
| Abstract: | Many countries invest considerable resources into promoting employment and the creation of jobs. At the same time, policies and institutions still pay relatively little attention to the quality of jobs although job quality has been found to be a major driver of employee wellbeing and may be an important factor for work productivity. Eventually, job quality might also influence labour supply choices and lead to higher employment. Providing robust evidence for the relationship between job quality and worker productivity could make a strong case for labour market policies directed at the improvement of job quality. This paper reviews existing evidence on the relationship between the quality of the work environment and individual at-work productivity, defined as reduced productivity while at work, and assesses the effect of health on this relationship. After screening 2 319 studies from various fields and disciplines, including economics and medicine, 48 studies are reviewed. Strong evidence is found for a negative relationship between job stress or job strain and individual at-work productivity and for a positive relationship between job rewards and productivity. Moderate evidence is found for a negative relationship between work-family conflict and at‑work productivity and for a positive relationship between fairness at work and social support from co-workers and productivity. Health influences the relationship between the quality of the work environment and productivity. Specifically, the relationship is stronger for people in good health. Job quality needs a more prominent place in labour market policy. More attention needs to be paid to workers’ perceptions of the quality of their work environment and how policies and practices at both the level of the worker and the work environment may influence this. Furthermore, as health‑related factors significantly influence the relationship between job quality and productivity, multidisciplinary approaches are needed to support at‑work productivity. |
| JEL: | I1 J2 J8 |
| Date: | 2017–06–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:elsaab:195-en&r=hea |
| By: | Timothy Layton; Alice K. Ndikumana; Mark Shepard |
| Abstract: | Medicaid, the government program for providing health insurance to low-income and disabled Americans, is the largest health insurer in the United States with more than 73 million enrollees. It is also the sector of the U.S. public health insurance system that relies most heavily on the tools of regulated competition with more than 60% of its enrollees enrolled in a private health plan in 2014. However, regulated competition in Medicaid differs from the typical model, emphasizing the tools of competitive procurement -- such as competitive bidding, the threat of exclusion from the market, and auto-assignment of enrollees to plans -- to attempt to improve efficiency, instead of relying primarily on the forces of consumer demand. In this paper, we discuss how Medicaid combines the tools of competitive procurement with the tools of regulated competition and some potential consequences of this hybrid model. |
| JEL: | I13 I18 |
| Date: | 2017–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23518&r=hea |
| By: | Michael Baker; Janet Currie; Hannes Schwandt |
| Abstract: | Mortality is a crucial dimension of wellbeing and inequality in a population, and mortality trends have been at the core of public debates in many Western countries. In this paper, we provide the first analysis of mortality inequality in Canada and compare its development to trends in the U.S. We find strong reductions in mortality rates across both genders and at all ages, with the exception of middle ages which only experienced moderate improvements. Inequality in mortality, measured across Canadian Census Divisions, decreased for infants and small children, while it increased slightly at higher ages. In comparison to the U.S., mortality levels in Canada improved at a similar rate despite lower initial levels. Inequality at younger ges, however, fell more strongly in the U.S., implying converging mortality gradients between the two countries. |
| JEL: | I14 |
| Date: | 2017–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23514&r=hea |
| By: | Inas Rashad Kelly |
| Abstract: | Direct medical costs associated with falls have been shown to be $34 billion in 2013, an underestimate since full costs are not factored in. Using the 1998-2012 waves of the Health and Retirement Study and several econometric methods to address the endogeneity of falls, this study seeks to answer the question of how much worse physical and mental health outcomes are for individuals who fall compared to their steadier counterparts. Results across various specifications suggest that falling leads to lower activities of daily living, more depression, and more psychological problems. It leads to greater probabilities of being in poor health, having heart problems, and having a stroke. These results survive several robustness checks. |
| JEL: | I1 |
| Date: | 2017–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23517&r=hea |
| By: | Alan I. Barreca; Matthew Neidell; Nicholas J. Sanders |
| Abstract: | Though over 90 percent of benefits from environmental quality improvements are attributed to long-term exposure, nearly all quasi-experimental evidence on the effects of pollution on health exploits changes in short-term exposure. Quantifying long-run exposure impacts requires a lasting, exogenous change in ambient pollution. Even if the initial change in pollution is exogenous, the long-run nature allows more time for economic agents to respond to changes in pollution, resulting in endogenous pollution exposure. We estimate the effects of long-run pollution exposure on mortality among adults by exploiting the United States Acid Rain Program (ARP) as a natural experiment. The ARP, which regulated emissions from coal power plants, created a permanent change in pollution across vast distances, enabling us to define broad treatment areas to subsume many potential confounding effects. We use a difference-indifferences design, comparing changes in mortality over time in counties “near” regulated plants to changes in mortality in similar counties “far” from the plants. We find relative mortality in treatment counties decreased after the introduction of the ARP, with mortality improvements growing steadily over time in both economic and statistical significance. The ARP had no significant effect on residential sorting or employment, helping rule out selection or economic mechanisms. Analysis by cause of death supports the role of fine particulate matter as the relevant pollutant. |
| JEL: | I10 Q51 Q53 |
| Date: | 2017–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:nbr:nberwo:23524&r=hea |
| By: | Palloni, Alberto; Beltran-Sanchez, Hiram |
| Abstract: | In this paper we assess properties of commonly used estimates of total effects of obesity on mortality and identify consequences of these properties for inferences. We argue that standard estimates have important shortcomings that at best limit the reach of inferences and at worst lead to misleading conclusions. Although some of these limitations are routinely acknowledged, rarely is their use accompanied by careful scrutiny of their weaknesses, let alone by a quantitative assessment of their sensitivity to violations of some stringent assumptions on which they are based. In this paper we develop an integrated framework based on a multistate hazard model to describe properties of the simpler standard estimates, identify conditions under which their performance is best, and define the nature of biases and interpretational ambiguities that emerge when empirical conditions depart more than modestly from optimal ones. In particular, we show formally that estimates from limited panel data and two-state hazard models with obesity as a covariate, the workhorse in this area, produce estimates that are difficult to interpret and compare across studies and, in some cases, biased. Finally, we propose a simple procedure that can be employed when the use of conventional two-state models is risky and illustrate its application to an a empirical case. |
| Keywords: | obesity, T2D, mortality, multistate hazard model, two-state hazard model |
| Date: | 2017–05 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ran:wpaper:1193&r=hea |
| By: | Steven F. Koch (Department of Economics, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa) |
| Abstract: | Rational expectations equilibria (REE) assume that the ex post equilibrium price function is able to reveal ex ante informWe evaluate the effects of different equivalence scale parameter estimates on the distribution of catastrophic health payments in South Africa. Our analysis makes use of Xu et al.'s (2003) initial estimate, which underscores the World Health Organization's methodology (Xu, 2005). We also update it using more recent data for one of the original countries included in Xu et al. (2003), South Africa. South Africa is considered, because the data used in Xu et al. (2003) was collected before the end of Apartheid, and the end of Aparthied has led to extensive social and economic changes, which could have influenced equivalence. We extend the empirical exercise by estimating a base-independent equivalence scale via semiparametric methods. Using these equivalence scales, we examine their effect on the distribution of catastrophic health payments using thresholds of 5%, 10% and 15%. The revised estimates suggest that the initial equivalence estimates were overstated by as much as 35%, such that poverty lines in the country were understated by as much as 17%. However, despite these large differences, the distribution of catastrophic health expenditures were unaffected. |
| Keywords: | Catastrophic Health Payments, Equivalence Scales, Semiparametric Estimation |
| Date: | 2017–06 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:pre:wpaper:201746&r=hea |
| By: | Alberto Marino (OECD); David Morgan (OECD); Luca Lorenzoni (OECD); Chris James (OECD) |
| Abstract: | Across the OECD, healthcare spending has typically outpaced economic growth in recent decades. While such spending has improved health outcomes, there are concerns about the financial sustainability of this upward trend, particularly as healthcare systems are predominantly funded from public resources in most OECD countries. To better explore this financial sustainability challenge, many countries and international institutions have developed forecasting models to project growth in future healthcare expenditure. Despite methodological differences between forecasting approaches, a common set of healthcare spending drivers can be identified. Demographic factors, rising incomes, technological progress, productivity in the healthcare sector compared to the general economy (Baumol’s cost disease) and associated healthcare policies have all been shown to be key determinants of healthcare spending. |
| JEL: | C53 H51 I18 J11 |
| Date: | 2017–06–22 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:elsaad:95-en&r=hea |
| By: | Ethan M.J. Lieber (University of Notre Dame); Lee M. Lockwood (Northwestern University and NBER) |
| Abstract: | Many of the most important government programs make transfers in kind as opposed to in cash. Making transfers in kind has the obvious cost that recipients would at least weakly prefer cost-equivalent cash transfers. But making transfers in kind can have benefits as well, including better targeting transfers to desired recipients. In this paper, we exploit large-scale randomized experiments run by three state Medicaid programs to investigate this central tradeoff for in-kind provision. Despite the large distortion from the in-kind provision of formal home care, the benefit from better targeting transfers to high-marginal utility types appears to be even greater. This highlights an important cost of recent policy reforms toward more flexible, cash-like benefits. |
| Date: | 2017–01 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mrr:papers:wp359&r=hea |
| By: | Bonnie O'Day; Rebecca Kleinman; Benjamin Fischer; Eric Morris; Crystal Blyler |
| Abstract: | The authors identify effective services to assist 3 groups of people with mental illnesses become or remain employed and prevent dependence on disability cash benefits. |
| Keywords: | mental illness, disability benefits, Unemployment |
| JEL: | I J |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:fd9866bd86fc425a9faaf4e340d1aad9&r=hea |
| By: | De Alwis, Diana; Noy, Ilan |
| Abstract: | We measure to cost of extreme weather events (droughts and floods) on health care in Sri Lanka. We find that frequently occurring local floods and droughts impose a significant risk to health when individuals are exposed directly to these hazards, and when their communities are exposed, even if they themselves are unaffected. Those impacts, and especially the indirect spillover effects to households that are not directly affected, are associated with the land-use in the affected regions and with access to sanitation and hygiene. Finally, both direct and indirect risks associated with flood and drought on health have an economic cost; our estimates suggest Sri Lanka spends 52.8 million USD per year directly on the health care costs associated with floods and droughts, divided almost equally between the public and household sectors, and 22% vs. 78% between floods and droughts, respectively. In Sri Lanka, both the frequency and the intensity of droughts and floods are likely to increase because of climatic change. Consequently, the health burden associated with these events is only likely to increase, demanding precious resources that are required elsewhere. |
| Keywords: | Sri Lanka, Flood, Drought, Health impact, |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:vuw:vuwecf:6397&r=hea |
| By: | Gina A. Livermore; Maura Bardos |
| Abstract: | The authors use nationally representative data on working-age recipients of Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) and Supplemental Security Income (SSI) to profile beneficiaries with psychiatric disabilities and compare them with beneficiaries eligible for SSDI and SSI on the basis of other health conditions. |
| Keywords: | Working-age adults, Social Security Disability Insurance, SSDI, Supplemental Security Income, SSI, psychiatric disabilities |
| JEL: | I J |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:774f012c80bb42448be28d7c4b9a5b7a&r=hea |
| By: | Crystal R. Blyler |
| Abstract: | This editorial provides an introduction to this unique special issue of the Psychiatric Rehabilitation Journal. Rather than focusing on a particular type of rehabilitative services, it more broadly addresses the subject, methods, and results of disability policy research. |
| Keywords: | psychiatric rehabilitation, rehabilitation services, disability policy |
| JEL: | I J |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:mpr:mprres:0b3d52029c4e4310b81f7244a10419cd&r=hea |
| By: | Luke Slawomirski (OECD); Ane Auraaen (OECD); Nicolaas S. Klazinga (OECD) |
| Abstract: | About one in ten patients are harmed during health care. This paper estimates the health, financial and economic costs of this harm. Results indicate that patient harm exerts a considerable global health burden. The financial cost on health systems is also considerable and if the flow-on economic consequences such as lost productivity and income are included the costs of harm run into trillions of dollars annually. Because many of the incidents that cause harm can be prevented, these failures represent a considerable waste of healthcare resources, and the cost of failure dwarfs the investment required to implement effective prevention. The paper then examines how patient harm can be minimised effectively and efficiently. This is informed by a snapshot survey of a panel of eminent academic and policy experts in patient safety. System- and organisational-level initiatives were seen as vital to provide a foundation for the more local interventions targeting specific types of harm. The overarching requirement was a culture conducive to safety. |
| JEL: | H51 I10 I18 I19 |
| Date: | 2017–06–26 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:oec:elsaad:96-en&r=hea |
| By: | Zlata Bruckauf; UNICEF Office of Research - Innocenti |
| Abstract: | Mental health is increasingly gaining the spotlight in the media and public discourse of industrialized countries. The problem is not new, but thanks to more open discussions and fading stigma, it is emerging as one of the most critical concerns of public health today. Psychological problems among children and adolescents can be wide-ranging and may include attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), disruptive conduct, anxiety, eating and mood disorders and other mental illnesses. Consistent evidence shows the links between adolescents’ mental health and the experience of bullying. Collecting internationally comparable data to measure mental health problems among children and adolescents will provide important evidence and stimulate governments to improve psychological support and services to vulnerable children. |
| Keywords: | adolescent health; child mental health; child psychology; |
| Date: | 2017 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:ucf:inores:inores896&r=hea |
| By: | Colin Busby (C.D. Howe Institute); William Robson (C.D. Howe Institute) |
| Abstract: | No services are more important than the health and community services we deliver through our four Regional Health Authorities. This year, we will invest more than 40% of total [operating] expenditures – nearly $3 billion – in healthcare....” Newfoundland and Labrador 2012 Budget Speech (p. 15). |
| Keywords: | Social Policy, Health Policy |
| JEL: | I1 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdh:ebrief:153&r=hea |
| By: | Colin Busby (C.D. Howe Institute); William Robson (C.D. Howe Institute) |
| Abstract: | In 2007–2008, comparable health care expenditures stood at $425 Million. Since then, these costs have grown 7 per cent annually... [S]tatus quo growth of 7 percent per year in health care spending is simply not an option. The more we spend on health, the less we are able to address the other needs of Islanders. This fiscal pressure must and will be addressed.” 2012 Prince Edward Island Budget Address (p. 8-9). |
| Keywords: | Social Policy, Health Policy |
| JEL: | I1 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdh:ebrief:152&r=hea |
| By: | Colin Busby (C.D. Howe Institute); William Robson (C.D. Howe Institute) |
| Abstract: | Health, as we all know, is by far the biggest part of the budget. And for years it has also been the fastest growing.... This government has reduced health-care administration costs to below the national average, and has cut the rate of growth of health spending. That is no small feat....” 2012 Nova Scotia Budget Speech (Nova Scotia, p. 11). |
| Keywords: | Social Policy, Health Policy |
| JEL: | I1 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdh:ebrief:151&r=hea |
| By: | Colin Busby (C.D. Howe Institute); William Robson (C.D. Howe Institute) |
| Abstract: | New Brunswickers have been clear about their priorities: they want quality, affordable health care and services for our seniors.” (2012/13 New Brunswick Budget, p. 14). |
| Keywords: | Social Policy, Health Policy |
| JEL: | I1 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdh:ebrief:150&r=hea |
| By: | Colin Busby (C.D. Howe Institute); William Robson (C.D. Howe Institute) |
| Abstract: | The health budget will continue to grow at a rate of 4.8% a year. ... [P]rogram spending growth targets have been set at 1.8% for 2013-2014....” 2013/14 Quebec Budget Speech (pp. 7 and 20). |
| Keywords: | Social Policy, Health Policy |
| JEL: | I1 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdh:ebrief:149&r=hea |
| By: | Colin Busby (C.D. Howe Institute); William Robson (C.D. Howe Institute) |
| Abstract: | Spending on healthcare in the western provinces and Canada has increased over time, outpacing growth in other government program spending. Further, the trend is expected to continue given the aging population and an increase in demand for new technology and treatments, which is a concern for the sustainability of the healthcare system in the near future.” Saskatchewan 2010/11 Ministry of Health Strategic Plan (Saskatchewan 2010, p. 15). |
| Keywords: | Social Policy, Health Policy |
| JEL: | I1 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdh:ebrief:146&r=hea |
| By: | Colin Busby (C.D. Howe Institute); William Robson (C.D. Howe Institute) |
| Abstract: | Between 1999-2000 and 2010-11, total government program spending increased by 36.4%, from $7,505 per capita to $10,240 on a constant dollar basis. Nowhere is the need to bring expenditures and revenue into alignment more obvious and critical than in health care... with the population aging – and more expensive medical technology and treatments available to improve health outcomes and quality of life – we have every reason to believe spending on health care will continue to rise in the foreseeable future.” Shaping Alberta’s Future: Report of the Premier’s Council for Economic Strategy (Alberta 2011, p. 96-97). |
| Keywords: | Social Policy, Health Policy |
| JEL: | I1 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdh:ebrief:145&r=hea |
| By: | Colin Busby (C.D. Howe Institute); William Robson (C.D. Howe Institute) |
| Abstract: | We know there is nothing more important to Manitoba families than the health of their loved ones. That’s why health care has always been our top priority. Mr. Speaker, we are focused on expanding care instead of costs.” (Manitoba Budget Address 2012, p. 3). |
| Keywords: | Social Policy, Health Policy |
| JEL: | I1 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdh:ebrief:147&r=hea |
| By: | Colin Busby (C.D. Howe Institute); William Robson (C.D. Howe Institute) |
| Abstract: | If we do not seize the opportunity now to begin creating a system that delivers more value for the money we spend, Ontarians a decade or two hence will face options far less attractive than the ones we face today.... [T]hey will be confronted with steadily escalating costs that force them to choose either to forgo many other government services that they treasure, pay higher taxes to cover a relentlessly growing health care bill, or privatize parts of the health care system....” Commission on the Reform of Ontario’s Public Services. Public Services for Ontarians: A Path to Sustainability and Excellence (Ontario 2012, p. 27). |
| Keywords: | Social Policy, Health Policy |
| JEL: | I1 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdh:ebrief:148&r=hea |
| By: | Colin Busby (C.D. Howe Institute); William Robson (C.D. Howe Institute) |
| Abstract: | Before the worldwide economic crisis, health care funding in B.C. was rising by an average of about seven per cent per year. Since 2009, the rate of increase has declined to about five per cent. And now, going forward, we’re looking at lifts closer to three per cent per year. Even with this modest growth, health care is projected to account for more than 42 per cent of total government spending by 2014-15. We can’t just keep pouring more and more dollars in. We have to find creative ways to minimize expenses....” (British Columbia Budget Speech 2012, p. 7.) |
| Keywords: | Social Policy, Health Policy |
| JEL: | I1 |
| URL: | http://d.repec.org/n?u=RePEc:cdh:ebrief:144&r=hea |