In this article, the authors recast health care costs into payer categories of business, households, and Federal and State-and-local governments which are more useful for policy analysis. The burden that these costs place upon the financial resources of each payer are examined for 1989 and for trends over time. For businesses, their share of health care costs continues to creep upward compared ...

INTRODUCTION In the Netherlands, as in other Western countries, ethnic minority elderly are more often in poorer health than the indigenous population. The expectation is that this health disadvantage results in more frequent use of health care services. METHODS We studied registered data on the proportion of health care receivers, frequency of use, and health care costs collected by a major ...

BACKGROUND Social inequalities in health are a characteristic of almost all European Welfare States. It has been estimated, that this is associated with annual costs that amount to approximately 9% of total member state GDP. We investigated the influence of inequalities in German health care utilization on direct medical costs. METHODS We used longitudinal data from a representative panel stu...

STUDY DESIGN An economic evaluation was conducted alongside a randomized controlled trial. SUMMARY OF BACKGROUND DATA Little is known about the effectiveness of cognitive-behavioral treatment options for patients following lumbar disc surgery. If the knowledge available was supported by an economic evaluation, the information could then be used to make recommendations for the implementation o...

OBJECTIVE This study examines the effect of taking a health risk assessment (HRA) on health care costs, utilization, and member health risks over a 3-year period. METHODS This retrospective cohort study examined changes utilization, costs, and health risks among a random sample of 500 employees completing an HRA compared with a matched group of 500 employees who did not complete an HRA. RES...

This paper provides an update on trends in health care costs since 1999. Although the growth rate in overall costs has been stable since 1999, the trend in costs for hospital services rose, while that for prescription drugs declined, although it remains extremely high. Increased growth in hospital costs reflects the retreat from tightly managed care and labor shortages. The discrepancy between ...