Ensuring long-term care (LTC) is one of the most urgent problems in health care today. Demographic trends are expected to lead to a higher proportion of old and very old people in the global population. As a result, an increased proportion of global income will be devoted to LTC services. With this in mind, Long-term Care: Economic Issues and Policy Solutions aims to address the following important objectives: * to provide a detailed analysis of the arrangements and institutions designed to protect the disabled and dependent elderly people in various countries, and to try to evaluate their respective merits. * to discuss the projections of future costs of protection for dependent elderly, and to assess the impact of improvements in disability-free life expectancy on the future cost of care and choices between informal and formal care. * to present empirical research on these decisions, with special consideration of primary caregivers, and on the substitution between in kind and cash benefits as well as between institutional (or formal) care and home (or informal) care.* to analyze different theoretical approaches in modeling decisions referring to LTC services to be provided both within and between generations. With its mix of empirical, theoretical and policy-related contributions, Long-term Care: Economic Issues and Policy Solutions will be of interest not only to health economists, but also to social scientists, health insurers, and public policy advocates.

Ensuring long-term care (LTC) is one of the most urgent problems in health care today. Demographic trends are expected to lead to a higher proportion of old and very old people in the global population. As a result, an increased proportion of global income will be devoted to LTC services. With this in mind, Long-term Care: Economic Issues and Policy Solutions aims to address the following important objectives: to provide a detailed analysis of the arrangements and institutions designed to protect the disabled and dependent elderly people in various countries, and to try to evaluate their respective merits. to discuss the projections of future costs of protection for dependent elderly, and to assess the impact of improvements in disability-free life expectancy on the future cost of care and choices between informal and formal care. to present empirical research on these decisions, with special consideration of primary caregivers, and on the substitution between in kind and cash benefits as well as between institutional (or formal) care and home (or informal) care. to analyze different theoretical approaches in modeling decisions referring to LTC services to be provided both within and between generations. With its mix of empirical, theoretical and policy-related contributions, Long-term Care: Economic Issues and Policy Solutions will be of interest not only to health economists, but also to social scientists, health insurers, and public policy advocates.

The new edition of a textbook that combines economic concepts with empirical evidence, updated with material on the Affordable Care Act and other developments. This book introduces students to the growing research field of health economics. Rather than offer details about health systems without providing a theoretical context, Health Economics combines economic concepts with empirical evidence to enhance readers' economic understanding of how health care institutions and markets function. The theoretical and empirical approaches draw heavily on the general field of applied microeconomics, but the text moves from the individual and firm level to the market level to a macroeconomic view of the role of health and health care within the economy as a whole. The book takes a global perspective, with description and analysis of institutional features of health sectors in countries around the world. This second edition has been updated to include material on the U.S. Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, material on the expansion of health insurance in Massachusetts, and an evaluation of Oregon's Medicaid expansion via lottery. The discussion of health care and health insurance in China has been substantially revised to reflect widespread changes there. Tables and figures have been updated with newly available data. Also new to this edition is a discussion of the health economics literature published between 2010 and 2015. The text includes readings, extensive references, review and discussion questions, and exercises. A student solutions manual offers solutions to selected exercises. Downloadable supplementary material is available for instructors.

How do smokers evaluate evidence that smoking harms health? Some evidence suggests that smokers overestimate health risks from smoking. This book challenges this conclusion. The authors find that smokers tend to be overly optimistic about their longevity and future health if they quit later in life.

Older adults' decisions to quit smoking require personal experience with the serious health impacts associated with smoking. Smokers over fifty revise their risk perceptions only after experiencing a major health shock--such as a heart attack. But less serious symptoms, such as shortness of breath, do not cause changes in perceptions. Waiting for such a jolt to occur is imprudent.

The authors show that well-crafted messages about how smoking affects quality of life can greatly affect current perceptions of smoking risks. If smokers are informed of long-term consequences of a disease, and if they are told that quitting can indeed come too late, they are able to evaluate the risks of smoking more accurately, and act accordingly.

The Law and Economics of Public Health synthesizes the empirical research findings on the relationship between law and the public's health that are found scattered in different literature ranging from economic journals to medical journals, journals on addictive behaviors, law reviews, and books. This is the only study to date that has assembled the empirical evidence from many areas ranging from motor vehicle liability and dram shop liability to medical malpractice, products liability as it applies to pharmaceutical products, and medical devices. The Law and Economics of Public Health addresses the fundamental question as to whether or not and the extent to which imposing tort liability on potential injurers improves the public's health. Does the threat of litigation on potential injurers make them exercise more caution? Does insurance coverage counter incentives to be careful? Does the tort system operate as perfectly as the theory would have it? This monograph answers these questions on the basis of empirical evidence. The Law and Economics of Public Health discusses both theory and empirical evidence in several areas of personal injury to which tort liability has been applied. The monograph starts by describing the general law and economics framework used to assess both positive and normative issues relating to tort liability. It then presents the rationale for and empirical evidence on particular applications of tort liability as it applies to personal injury.

Cancer is low or absent on the health agendas of low- and middle-income countries (LMCs) despite the fact that more people die from cancer in these countries than from AIDS and malaria combined. International health organizations, bilateral aid agencies, and major foundations&#8212which are instrumental in setting health priorities&#8212also have largely ignored cancer in these countries. This book identifies feasible, affordable steps for LMCs and their international partners to begin to reduce the cancer burden for current and future generations. Stemming the growth of cigarette smoking tops the list to prevent cancer and all the other major chronic diseases. Other priorities include infant vaccination against the hepatitis B virus to prevent liver cancers and vaccination to prevent cervical cancer. Developing and increasing capacity for cancer screening and treatment of highly curable cancers (including most childhood malignancies) can be accomplished using "resource-level appropriateness" as a guide. And there are ways to make inexpensive oral morphine available to ease the pain of the many who will still die from cancer. Table of Contents Front Matter Summary 1 Introduction 2 Cancer Causes and Risk Factors and the Elements of Cancer Control 3 The Cancer Burden in Low- and Middle-Income Countries and How It Is Measured 4 Defining Resource-Level-Appropriate Cancer Control 5 Preventing Cancers (and Other Diseases) by Reducing Tobacco Use 6 Compelling Opportunities in Global Cancer Control 7 Palliative Care 8 Cancer Centers in Low- and Middle-Income Countries 9 Advocacy for Cancer Control 10 Expanding the Role of the Global Community in Cancer Control Appendix A Cancer Control in Malaysia and Tanzania Appendix B Acronyms and Abbreviations

Medicare, the world's single largest health insurance program, covers more than 47 million Americans. Although it is a national program, it adjusts payments to hospitals and health care practitioners according to the geographic location in which they provide service, acknowledging that the cost of doing business varies around the country. Under the adjustment systems, payments in high-cost areas are increased relative to the national average, and payments in low-cost areas are reduced. In July 2010, the Department of Health and Human Services, which oversees Medicare, commissioned the IOM to conduct a two-part study to recommend corrections of inaccuracies and inequities in geographic adjustments to Medicare payments. The first report examined the data sources and methods used to adjust payments, and recommended a number of changes. Geographic Adjustment in Medicare Payment - Phase II:Implications for Access, Quality, and Efficiency applies the first report's recommendations in order to determine their potential effect on Medicare payments to hospitals and clinical practitioners. This report also offers recommendations to improve access to efficient and appropriate levels of care. Geographic Adjustment in Medicare Payment - Phase II:Implications for Access, Quality, and Efficiency expresses the importance of ensuring the availability of a sufficient health care workforce to serve all beneficiaries, regardless of where they live. Table of Contents Front Matter Summary: Implications of Geographic Adjustment for Access, Quality, and Efficiency of Care 1 Introduction and Overview 2 Payment Simulations 3 Evidence of Geographic Variation in Access, Quality, and Workforce Distribution 4 Programs and Policies to Improve Access and Quality of Care for Beneficiaries 5 Observations on the Larger Policy Context 6 Recommendations Appendix A-1: Technical Approach to Payment Simulations: IOM Committee Recommendations for Hospital Wage Index and Physician Geographic Adjustment Factors Appendix A-2: Payment Simulations: Data Tables Appendix B: Methods for the Analysis of Associations of Quality Measures with Payments in Chapter 3 Appendix C: Quality Assurance for RTI Payment Simulations Appendix D: Public Session: Workforce, Access, and Innovation Policy Levers for Geographic Adjustment In Medicare Payment Appendix E: Exchange of Letters Between House of Representatives Quality Coalition and Committee Chair Frank Sloan Appendix F: Committee and Staff Biographies Index

Medicare is the largest health insurer in the United States, providing coverage for 39 million people aged 65 and older and 8 million people with disabilities, and reaching more than an estimated $500 billion in payments in 2010. Although Medicare is a national program, it adjusts fee-for-service payments according to the geographic location of a practice. While there is widespread agreement about the importance of providing accurate payments to providers, there is disagreement about how best to adjust payment based on geographic location. At the request of Congress and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Institute of Medicine (IOM) examined ways to improve the accuracy of data sources and methods used for making the geographic adjustments to payments. The IOM recommends an integrated approach that includes moving to a single source of wage and benefits data; changing to one set of payment areas; and expanding the range of occupations included in the index calculations. The first of two reports, Geographic Adjustment in Medicare Payment: Phase I: Improving Accuracy, assesses existing practices in regards to accuracy, criteria consistency, evidence for adjustment, sound rationale, transparency, and separate policy adjustments to reform the current payment system. Adopting the recommendations outlined in this report will mean a change in the way that the indexes are calculated, and will require a combination of legislative, rule-making, and administrative actions, as well as a period of public comment. Geographic Adjustment in Medicare Payment will inform the work of government agencies such as HHS, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, congressional members and staff, the health care industry, national professional organizations and state medical and nursing societies, and Medicare advocacy groups. Table of Contents Front Matter Summary 1 Introduction and Overview 2 Labor Markets and Payment Areas 3 Hospital Wage Index 4 Smoothing the Borders of Labor Markets and Payment Areas 5 Geographic Practice Cost Indexes 6 Transitions Appendix A: Committee and Staff Biographies Appendix B: Public Committee Meeting Agendas Appendix C: List of Contributors and Participants Appendix D: Statistical Reliability of the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) Wage Data Appendix E: Comparison of the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) and Institute of Medicine (IOM) Proposals for Alternative Hospital Wage Indexes (HWIs) Appendix F: Description of Three Optional Sources for Facility Wage Index Data Appendix G: RTI Analysis Data Sources Appendix H: S-3 Worksheet Appendix I: Physician Work Adjustment Index

The cost of malpractice insurance to physicians has been increasing in recent years, as has the threat to physicians of being sued. This book describes and analyzes the workings of the market for physicians' liability insurance. The authors use their own data and other sources to study questions such as: Is the market for medical malpractice insurance competitive? Has the profitability of medical malpractice insurance been excessive? Why do malpractice insurers demand reinsurance? What effect has insurance regulation had on premiums? And it explores what experience rating is and how it is done.

The pharmaceutical industry worldwide is a rapidly burgeoning industry contributing to growth of gross domestic product and employment. Technological change in this field has been very rapid, with many new products being introduced. For this reason in part, health care budgets throughout the world have increased dramatically, eliciting growing pressures for cost containment. This book explores four important issues in pharmaceutical innovations: (1) the industry structure of pharmaceutical innovation; (2) incentives for correcting market failures in allocating resources for research and development; (3) competition and marketing; and (4) public evaluation of the benefits and costs of innovation. The lessons are applicable to countries all over the world, at all levels of economic development. By discussing existing evidence this book proposes incentive arrangements to accomplish social objectives.

This book is about the cost effectiveness of present and future medical technologies. Methods of analyzing cost effectiveness are described in terms of choices that take into consideration dollar values of treatment, quality of life and the rationale for deciding who should receive treatment in situations of rationed care. Essays in the book range from lay level to technical state of the art, making the book of interest to a wide variety of readers.