INTRODUCTION Previous studies have shown racial and ethnic differences in diabetes complication rates and diabetes control. The objective of this study was to examine racial and ethnic differences in diabetes care and health care use and costs for adults with diabetes using a nationally representative sample of the U.S. noninstitutionalized civilian population. METHODS We performed a cross-se...

BACKGROUND New pharmacological therapies are challenging the healthcare systems, and there is an increasing need to assess their therapeutic value in relation to existing alternatives as well as their potential budget impact. Consequently, new models to introduce drugs in healthcare are urgently needed. In the metropolitan health region of Stockholm, Sweden, a model has been developed including...

OBJECTIVE To estimate, among privately insured youth in the U.S., medical expenditures associated with diabetes and the difference in medical expenditures between individuals with insulin-treated diabetes mellitus (ITDM) and with non-ITDM (NITDM). RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Using the 2007 MarketScan commercial claims and encounter database, we analyzed data for 49,356 youth (aged ≤ 19 years)...

BACKGROUND Many patients are burdened by prescription costs, yet it is not clear whether brand-named fixed-dose combination medicines are less expensive than the sum of the cost of their generic components. METHODS We used the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a rigorously conducted, nationally representative, population-based survey, to examine the out-of-pocket and third party costs associa...

The analysis presented in this report was undertaken to identify those drug entities that account for a significant proportion of the retail expenditures for prescription drugs used by the elderly. Commercial data bases were used to develop fixed weight Laspeyres price indexes based specifically on drugs used in the elderly population. The indexes provide the capability to analyze price trends ...

Due to the recent economic crisis Greece is facing, the government has developed several initiatives using information and communication technologies (ICT) in order to foster the economic growth, enhance trust and transparency in the operation of public administration, streamline the public expenditure and combat corruption and tax evasion. Such initiatives include: a) the “transparency project...

This paper presents a new copula-based approach for analyzing panel data in which (1) the observed multivariate outcomes are a mixture of zeros and continuouslymeasured positives, with the zeros accounting for a nontrivial proportion of the sample; (2) both the zero and positive outcomes show state dependence and dynamic interdependence (cross-equation lagged dependence); and (3) the zeros and ...

Promoting the use of generic drugs can constitute a core instrument for countries' national pharmaceutical policies, one that reduces drug expenditure while expanding health care access. Despite the potential importance of such policy measures and the differences among national practices, scholars embarking on comparative analysis lack a roadmap for determining which dimensions of generic drug ...

The aim of this cross-sectional observational study was to address the health care situation in regard to smoking cessation efforts and expenditure, and to provide a basis for future studies and for implementing tobacco control programmes throughout the Eastern Mediterranean Region of the World Health Organization. Information collected included methods and cost of services for tobacco cessatio...

Abstract There are strong arguments that national catastrophic drug insurance should be established in Canada with assistance from the federal government. The author of this paper projects the long-run program costs for two proposals for such a program: that of the Kirby Committee and that of the Romanow Commission. He concludes that both the annual program costs to the federal government and t...