Unfortunately, informal payments for health care are responsible for a considerable share of patients' out-of-pocket payments in Iran (1, 2). Almost all health care users and providers are familiar with such payments with the name of “under the table payments” in Iran (3). About half of Iranian health care seekers have faced with such payments at least one time during a year (2). Although the i...

A fter rapid government payment increases in the midto late 1990s, Medicare+Choice plans now face sharply reduced annual increases in government payments for basic Medicare benefits (Gold 2001a). In response, Medicare+Choice plans are cutting back on supplemental benefits and raising premiums (Gold and Achman 2001; Achman and Gold 2002a, 2002c).These changes have increased outof-pocket spending...

    Background: One of the main goals of health systems is to protect people against financial risks associated with diseases that can be catastrophic for patients. In 2014, Health Sector Evolution Plan (HSEP) was implemented in Iran; one of the objectives of HSEP was to reduce out-of-pocket payments and provide more financial protection for people. Therefore, the present study a...

This article presents data about expenses and sources of payment for nursing homes for 1987 and 1996. A central finding is that the role of Medicare in financing nursing home care has greatly expanded. Medicare payments represent 2 and 19 percent of the total for 1987 and 1996, respectively. As Medicare's role increased, there was an accompanying decline in the proportion of expenses paid out o...