Health economicsPub Date : 2026-03-31Epub Date: 2026-02-23DOI: 10.1002/hec.70086
Luigi Siciliani, James Gaughan, Nils Gutacker, Hugh Gravelle, Martin Chalkley
{"title":"Paying for Health Gains Using Patient Reported Outcome Measures","authors":"Luigi Siciliani, James Gaughan, Nils Gutacker, Hugh Gravelle, Martin Chalkley","doi":"10.1002/hec.70086","DOIUrl":"10.1002/hec.70086","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Payments to healthcare providers are often based on the number of patients with a particular diagnosis or treatment with well known limitations. Payment based on health outcomes, a form of pay-for-performance, has long been advocated as a possible solution. We use a contract theory approach and illustrate how it can inform practical implementation of pay-for-performance schemes that reward health outcomes. The pricing rule suggests that the bonus should be set to reflect the difference between the provider's marginal cost of a health improvement before the policy intervention and the provider's marginal cost evaluated at the target health set by the purchaser. We provide estimates of the optimal bonus for hip and knee replacement under a range of assumptions about provider cost functions and the value of health improvements.</p>","PeriodicalId":12847,"journal":{"name":"Health economics","volume":"35 5","pages":"831-847"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13039804/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"147276196","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health economicsPub Date : 2026-03-31Epub Date: 2026-01-06DOI: 10.1002/hec.70075
Dolores de la Mata, Matilde P. Machado, Pau Olivella, Nieves Valdés
{"title":"Asymmetric Information With Multiple Risks: The Case of the Chilean Private Health Insurance Market","authors":"Dolores de la Mata, Matilde P. Machado, Pau Olivella, Nieves Valdés","doi":"10.1002/hec.70075","DOIUrl":"10.1002/hec.70075","url":null,"abstract":"<p>We extend the Rothshild and Stiglitz (1976) model to two sources of risk –inpatient and outpatient risk– to better proxy real-world health insurance markets. We uncover an interesting theoretical possibility: Take individuals A and B, who are low risks in, say, the inpatient dimension but A is riskier in the outpatient dimension. Then, A may enjoy less coverage than B in the inpatient dimension (coverage reversal). This phenomenon indicates that when testing for adverse selection in a given dimension, one has to treat individuals who differ in the other dimension separately. With this insight in mind, we adapt the Chiappori and Salanié (2000) positive correlation test to this multi-dimensionality and use it to test for adverse selection using individual-level claims data for the privately insured in Chile. This empirical analysis indicates that overlooking the aforementioned need of separating samples can potentially lead to biased conclusions.</p>","PeriodicalId":12847,"journal":{"name":"Health economics","volume":"35 5","pages":"712-729"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13039800/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145911086","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
{"title":"The Effect of Voluntary Staying at Home on Japanese Female Suicide During the COVID-19 Pandemic","authors":"Yoko Ibuka, Haruo Kakehi, Ryuki Kobayashi, Ryo Nakajima","doi":"10.1002/hec.70078","DOIUrl":"10.1002/hec.70078","url":null,"abstract":"<p>In Japan, female suicide increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. This study evaluated how pandemic-related home confinement affected female suicide. We employed a shift-share instrumental variable design to assess whether differential exposure to the pandemic caused changes in suicide incidence. We found that suicide increased among females under 20 years of age as more people stayed at home. Counterfactual analyses showed that at least 35% of these suicides were attributed to home confinement. Our results suggest that a substantial part of the suicide increase among young females was driven by lifestyle changes during the pandemic.</p>","PeriodicalId":12847,"journal":{"name":"Health economics","volume":"35 5","pages":"742-758"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13039786/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145951209","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health economicsPub Date : 2026-03-31Epub Date: 2026-02-11DOI: 10.1002/hec.70083
Gosia Majewska, Krzysztof Zaremba
{"title":"The Financial and Behavioral Effects of Free Prescription Drugs: Evidence From a Policy Discontinuity in Poland","authors":"Gosia Majewska, Krzysztof Zaremba","doi":"10.1002/hec.70083","DOIUrl":"10.1002/hec.70083","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We examine whether a universal drug subsidy for seniors in Poland provided effective financial protection and whether it induced ex ante moral hazard. The policy eliminated out-of-pocket costs for prescription medications while leaving all other healthcare coverage unchanged. Using detailed household expenditure data and a sharp age-based eligibility threshold, we implement a difference-in-discontinuities design to estimate causal effects. The reform reduced average medication spending and lowered the incidence of catastrophic drug expenditures by 62%, with gains concentrated in the upper tail of the spending distribution—consistent with insurance against large health shocks. On the non-medical margin, we find suggestive evidence of a modest increase in spending on a category of unhealthy goods—consistent with reduced precautionary behavior at the household level. These results highlight that while public subsidies can meaningfully reduce financial risk, they may also induce behavioral responses that partially offset intended health benefits.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":12847,"journal":{"name":"Health economics","volume":"35 5","pages":"796-830"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146156765","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health economicsPub Date : 2026-03-31Epub Date: 2026-01-31DOI: 10.1002/hec.70081
Hang Thu Nguyen-Phung, Yijun Yu, Phuc H. Nguyen, Hai Le
{"title":"Maternal Education and Child Development: Insights From Nutritional Status in Kenya","authors":"Hang Thu Nguyen-Phung, Yijun Yu, Phuc H. Nguyen, Hai Le","doi":"10.1002/hec.70081","DOIUrl":"10.1002/hec.70081","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>This paper examines the impacts of maternal education on her children's nutritional status in Kenya, utilizing six waves of nationally representative data from KDHS. To mitigate potential endogeneity issues and derive a causal relationship, we employ a change in the educational regime in 1985 as an instrument variable. The key findings can be summarized as follows. First, women under the new structure enhance their education by an average of 1.8 years. Second, an additional year of education attained by a mother is shown to have an impact on reducing the likelihood of her child experiencing stunting, underweight, and wasting by approximately 3.8, 2.6, and 1.2 percentage points, respectively. These findings withstand rigorous testing through a battery of robustness checks. Finally, to elucidate the underlying mechanisms behind these results, our study delves into various factors, encompassing women's fertility, female labor force engagement, women's information exposure, and their involvement in decision-making.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":12847,"journal":{"name":"Health economics","volume":"35 5","pages":"778-795"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146092991","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health economicsPub Date : 2026-03-31Epub Date: 2026-01-11DOI: 10.1002/hec.70079
Caroline Fry, Ina Ganguli
{"title":"Return on Returns: Building Scientific Capacity in AIDS Endemic Countries","authors":"Caroline Fry, Ina Ganguli","doi":"10.1002/hec.70079","DOIUrl":"10.1002/hec.70079","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>We examine public funding for health research through the United States National Institutes of Health Fogarty International Center's AIDS International Training and Research Program, which sought to strengthen scientific capacity in AIDS-endemic countries by providing African researchers with training opportunities in the U.S. We use a difference-in-differences framework with information on scientists who participated in the program and the research activities of African scientists working at their home institutions in adjacent topics of neglected tropical diseases. Relative to comparable scientists, those at institutions with returning trainees subsequently publish more on HIV-related topics, receive more grant funding, engage in more clinical trials, and their work contributes to a greater number of policy documents. These patterns suggest that following the Fogarty program, research, innovation, and health policy related to the AIDS epidemic in African countries became more active.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":12847,"journal":{"name":"Health economics","volume":"35 5","pages":"730-741"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145951158","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health economicsPub Date : 2026-03-31Epub Date: 2026-01-19DOI: 10.1002/hec.70080
Ricardo B. Ang III
{"title":"Medicare Part D and Hospital Admissions due to Antimicrobial Resistance","authors":"Ricardo B. Ang III","doi":"10.1002/hec.70080","DOIUrl":"10.1002/hec.70080","url":null,"abstract":"<p>Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) has been increasing rapidly in the United States despite government efforts to contain its spread. Both under-utilization and overuse of prescribed antimicrobials contribute to rising resistance. The introduction of Medicare Part D in 2006 expanded prescription drug coverage for the elderly, including coverage for antimicrobial medications. If cost barriers had previously led to under-utilization of prescriptions, then Medicare Part D could have mitigated AMR by improving access to antimicrobials. However, if Medicare Part D also encouraged excessive antibiotic use, it may have inadvertently contributed to greater resistance. Using data from the Nationwide Inpatient Sample (NIS), Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality for January 2001 to September 2008, I estimate the causal impact of Medicare Part D on AMR-related hospital discharges using a difference-in-differences identification strategy. My findings suggest that Medicare Part D led to a slower increase in AMR-related inpatient discharges among the Medicare-eligible population.</p>","PeriodicalId":12847,"journal":{"name":"Health economics","volume":"35 5","pages":"759-777"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC13039772/pdf/","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"146003323","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"OA","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Health economicsPub Date : 2026-03-31Epub Date: 2026-01-01DOI: 10.1002/hec.70076
Flaviana Palmisano
{"title":"Exploring Population Heterogeneities in Health Dynamics","authors":"Flaviana Palmisano","doi":"10.1002/hec.70076","DOIUrl":"10.1002/hec.70076","url":null,"abstract":"<div>\u0000 \u0000 <p>How does individuals' health status evolve over time? Is this evolution characterized by any socio-economic gradient? To answer these questions, this paper proposes a new intuitive and normatively grounded criterion to assess and compare health dynamics over time accounting for population heterogeneities. Implementing this criterion to European data, this paper provides the first pan-European evidence on health dynamics and related heterogeneities from 2005 to 2019. It shows that socio-economic gradients have played an important role in shaping the health dynamics experienced by the European population. These dynamics appear progressive with respect to the pure economic status of individuals determined by their level of income. This feature is reverted when the economic conditions of individuals are widened to include non-pure monetary aspects such as professional condition and parental background.</p>\u0000 </div>","PeriodicalId":12847,"journal":{"name":"Health economics","volume":"35 5","pages":"691-711"},"PeriodicalIF":2.4,"publicationDate":"2026-03-31","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"145889156","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":3,"RegionCategory":"医学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}