Like many other countries, Australia is increasingly being forced to face the spiralling costs of health care. Population increases, an aging population, and the high cost of many items of modern medical equipment and of medical care generally, have all contributed to the pressure on health care resources. Within this climate of resource scarcity, more and more questions are being asked about t...

Physical inactivity is a major public health challenge due to its association with chronic diseases and the resulting economic impact on the public healthcare system. However, walking can help alleviate these problems. Aim To verify associations between walking during leisure-time, risk factors and health care expenditure among users of the Brazilian public health care system. Methods The sampl...

Access to medical care is a central concern to U.S. policymakers and those interested in health care reform. Wide disparities in access by poverty status and health insurance status are of special importance. This Statistical Brief describes trends in access to health care through the period between 1996-2006 using data from the Household Component of the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS-...

Background: In all countries, health expenditures are a main part of government expenditure, and governments try to find policies and strategies to reduce this expenditure. Overall expenditure index has been raised 30 times during the past 20 years in Iran, while in the health sector, the growth in health expenditures index has been 71 times. The present study aimed at examining health care exp...

This study was undertaken to estimate the magnitude of medical care expenditures among persons with respiratory conditions in the USA in 1996, and the increment in expenditures attributable to these conditions. The study data were derived from the 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, a national sample of 21,571 persons. Of the 21,571, 1,027 reported one or more respiratory condition. After we...

Inpatient hospice care can reduce futile treatment and medical costs. However, the cost trimming effect of home-based hospice care in hospital has yet not been explored. This study evaluates the impact of home-based hospice care on end-of-life expenditure in hospitals with different spending intensity. This is a population-based retrospective study in Taiwan. Cancer decedents were identified in...

Japan is currently experiencing the most rapid population aging among all OECD countries. Increasing expenditures on medical care in Japan have been attributed to the aging of the population. Authors in the recent debate on end-of-life care and long-term care (LTC) cost in the United States and Europe have attributed time to death and non-medical care cost for the aged as a source of rising exp...

Long-term care, which includes nursing facilities and home health care, provides care to an increasing population of disabled, elderly persons with diabetes. Nursing facilities provide the majority of formal long-term care. Data from the Institutional Component of the 1987 National Medical Expenditure Survey (NMES-2) provide a profile of the demographics, health status, health care use, and nur...

ABBREVIATIONS. MEPS, Medical Expenditure Panel Survey; HCUP, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project; AHCPR, Agency for Health Care Policy and Research; HC, Household Component; MPC, Medical Provider Component; IC, Insurance Component; ICD-9-CM, International Classification of Diseases, 9th Revision, Clinical Modification; SID, State Inpatient Databases; NIS, Nationwide Inpatient Sample; AHA, A...