BACKGROUND Under the current healthcare system in China, there is no government-sponsored health insurance program for children. Children from families who move from rural and interior regions to large urban centres without a valid residency permit might be at higher risk of being uninsured due to their low socioeconomic status. We conducted a survey in Shanghai to describe children's health in...

Purchasers and health plans are reemphasizing deductibles, coinsurance, and other consumer incentives in response to renewed inflation and the continuing backlash against managed care. This paper explores the partial convergence of cost sharing and benefit design for preferred provider and health maintenance products and highlights experiments that foster price-conscious choice among benefit co...

We develop an empirical method to assess the degree of financial exposure associated with medical care spending among non-elderly U.S. households with employer-sponsored insurance. A key feature of this method is its simplicity – it only requires data on out-of-pocket (OOP) health care spending and total health care spending and does not require detailed knowledge of health insurance benefit de...

OBJECTIVES As in nearly all European countries, demographic developments in Germany have led to both a relative and an absolute increase in the country's elderly population. The care and support needed by these people is primarily provided by relatives or friends and close acquaintances within the home environment. The major challenges for society are to sustain, promote and support these infor...

OBJECTIVE To analyze evolution of the health technology assessment (HTA) at the national level in South Korea. METHODS Analysis of public documents, personal communication, and literative review. RESULTS HTA in South Korea has been developed since 1990s, first introduced by academia and institutionalized within the National Health Insurance (NHI). Rapidly increasing expenditure had been a c...

The prospect of paying for nursing home care represents a significant financial risk for older Americans. Despite this risk, few individuals buy long-term care insurance and, since many lack the resources to pay out of pocket, they often turn to the means-tested Medicaid program. Concerned about growing Medicaid costs, many states have initiated “partnership” programs that offer a unique incent...

Background The preferences of Iranians concerning the attributes of health insurance benefit packages are not well studied. This study aimed to elicit health insurance preferences among insured people in Iran during 2016.   Methods A mixed method...

INTRODUCTION Health care financing reforms in both China and Vietnam have resulted in greater financial difficulties in accessing health care, especially for the rural poor. Both countries have been developing rural health insurance for decades. This study aims to evaluate and compare equity in access to health care in rural health insurance system in the two countries. METHODS Household surv...

BACKGROUND The impact of alcohol abuse on worker productivity is considerable and appears to be increasing over time. Although early screening and intervention may help prevent or reduce the damaging health and productivity effects of problem drinking, barriers to behavioral change may render broad-based prevention efforts ineffectual. This study examined the correlates of two potential barrier...

Expansion of health care coverage has risen to the top of the legislative agenda in California. One question within the health care reform debate is whether expanding health insurance to all Californians will attract new undocumented immigrants who would come primarily for those benefits. A review of studies on immigration and public benefits suggests that the net attraction of any major expans...