{"title":"High-risk individuals in voluntary health insurance markets: the elephant in the room?","authors":"Florian Buchner, Frederik T Schut","doi":"10.1017/S1744133125000118","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744133125000118","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The standard analytical framework of insurance markets by Einav and Finkelstein (EF) focuses on the problem of welfare loss for low-risk individuals. A key assumption of this framework is that demand and cost curves are tightly linked, meaning that people are willing to pay a price equal to their expected cost plus a risk premium. Using data from the German risk-adjustment system we show that the distribution of expected health care costs is extremely skewed. We show that incorporating the extreme skewness of predictable individual health care expenses in the EF framework has important welfare consequences, which are typically overlooked when using this framework for analysing the negative welfare effects of voluntary health insurance markets with asymmetric information. Rather than the welfare loss of low-risk individuals due to underinsurance, the main problem of voluntary health insurance markets is the welfare loss of high-risk individuals not getting access to health insurance and affordable health care. We discuss that among the policy approaches to reduce this problem, mandatory health insurance with mandatory cross subsidies is likely to be the most effective, which is typically not recognised when focusing primarily on the welfare loss for low-risk individuals.</p>","PeriodicalId":46836,"journal":{"name":"Health Economics Policy and Law","volume":" ","pages":"1-14"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144081320","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}
{"title":"Has regional decentralisation saved lives during the COVID-19 pandemic?","authors":"Beatriz González López-Valcárcel, Guillem Lopez-Casasnovas","doi":"10.1017/S1744133125000052","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744133125000052","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>We examine the impact of decentralisation on COVID-19 mortality and various health outcomes. Specifically, we investigate whether decentralised health systems, which facilitated greater regional participation and information sharing, were more effective in saving lives. Our analysis makes three contributions. First, we draw on evidence from several European countries to assess whether the decentralisation of health systems influenced COVID-19 mortality rates. Second, we explore the regional disparities in one of the most decentralised health systems, Spain, to untangle some of the determinants shaping health outcomes. Third, we estimate the regional loss of Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALYs) due to COVID-19 mortality, broken down by the wave of the pandemic. Our findings suggest that coordinated decentralisation played a critical role in saving lives throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.</p>","PeriodicalId":46836,"journal":{"name":"Health Economics Policy and Law","volume":" ","pages":"1-16"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-15","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144081317","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}
Bo Hu, Ruth Hancock, Raphael Wittenberg, Derek King, Marcello Morciano
{"title":"Reforming the funding of long-term care for older people: costs and distributional impacts of planned changes in England.","authors":"Bo Hu, Ruth Hancock, Raphael Wittenberg, Derek King, Marcello Morciano","doi":"10.1017/S1744133125000088","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744133125000088","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Reforms to the means tests in England for state-financed long-term care were planned for implementation in 2025. They included a lifetime limit (cap) on how much an individual must contribute to their care, with the state meeting subsequent care costs. We present projections of the costs and distributional impacts of these reforms for older people, using two linked simulation models which draw on a wide range of data. We project that by 2038 public spending on long-term care for older people in England would be about 14% higher than without the reforms. While the main direct beneficiaries of the lifetime cap would have been the better off who currently receive no state help with their care costs, the reforms also treated capital assets more generously than the current system, helping people with more modest incomes and wealth. When analysing the impacts of the reforms it is therefore important to consider the whole reform package. Our results depend on a range of assumptions, and the impacts of the reforms would be sensitive to the levels of the cap and other reformed parameters of the means test on implementation.</p>","PeriodicalId":46836,"journal":{"name":"Health Economics Policy and Law","volume":" ","pages":"1-21"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-14","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144003878","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}
{"title":"Safety of scientific medical research is a State obligation.","authors":"Marjolein Timmers, Mária Éva Földes","doi":"10.1017/S174413312500009X","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S174413312500009X","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Conducting scientific medical research with human subjects presents risks that raise both ethical and human rights concerns. We argue in this article that applying a human rights framework to the problems that arise in the context of scientific medical research can contribute to a better understanding of the impact on individuals, the related obligations of the State, and the avenues to make the State accountable when things go wrong. We start our analysis with a case brought to the European Court of Human Rights, which we use as an illustration throughout the article. We then discuss the relevance of human rights to the field of scientific medical research with a focus on the right to life and the right to health. The article draws on international human rights jurisprudence that deals with concrete disputes arising from the clinical reality. We use case law to highlight the role of human rights law in tackling the real-life problems that may occur during scientific medical research. Our analysis contends that human rights law can provide valuable guidance for healthcare professionals and equip them to handle concrete situations in the clinical reality when the safety of research subjects is at stake.</p>","PeriodicalId":46836,"journal":{"name":"Health Economics Policy and Law","volume":" ","pages":"1-13"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-05-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144050945","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}
Karel C F Stolper, Izel Yildirim, Lieke H H M Boonen, Frederik T Schut, Marco Varkevisser
{"title":"Do consumers perceive and trust health insurers within a system of managed competition as prudent buyers of care?","authors":"Karel C F Stolper, Izel Yildirim, Lieke H H M Boonen, Frederik T Schut, Marco Varkevisser","doi":"10.1017/S1744133124000185","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744133124000185","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>In health care systems based upon the principles of managed competition, health insurers are expected to act as prudent buyers of care. Consumers are expected to switch between insurers based upon the performance of insurers in this role. Yet, the Dutch experience shows that trust of consumers in health insurers is low and that switching consumers focus primarily on price. The question arises if consumers do in fact perceive and trust insurers as prudent buyers of care. We addressed this question by using a mixed-method approach. The results show that most people know that insurers buy health care and feel that the purchasing tasks suit their role. They even have reasonable, though fragile, trust in the purchasing competencies of the insurer. However, the results also revealed that consumers have insufficient information to cast a judgement about insurers as purchasers and incorrectly think that insurers are commercial organisations. Hence, improving the public information about insurers and their purchasing role seems to be crucial. Given the inherent complexity in the system, it remains to be seen if this objective can be reached in the (near) future. For that reason, policymakers should also consider additional measures to encourage that insurers will take integral purchasing responsibility.</p>","PeriodicalId":46836,"journal":{"name":"Health Economics Policy and Law","volume":" ","pages":"1-26"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-03-11","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143598125","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}
Juan Carlos Rejon-Parrilla, David Epstein, Daniel Pérez-Troncoso, Jaime Espin
{"title":"How should medicines reimbursement work? The views of Spanish experts.","authors":"Juan Carlos Rejon-Parrilla, David Epstein, Daniel Pérez-Troncoso, Jaime Espin","doi":"10.1017/S174413312400029X","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S174413312400029X","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>Although the criteria that support reimbursement decisions for medicines are often set by legislation, as is the case in Spain, in many cases neither the definition nor the measurement methods for these criteria are provided. Our goal was to elicit the views of a large sample of Spanish technical specialists on how to evaluate each one of the criteria that inform pricing and reimbursement decisions in Spain. Professionals from various stakeholder groups involved in health economics, health technology assessment, and industry participated in a survey. Participants recommended that reimbursement decisions should take specific account of unmet medical need and rare diseases. Health benefit should be measured using quality-adjusted life-years. There should be an explicit cost-effectiveness threshold, and this threshold should take account of population groups and special situations.</p>","PeriodicalId":46836,"journal":{"name":"Health Economics Policy and Law","volume":" ","pages":"1-18"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-30","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143068650","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}
{"title":"A systematic literature review of real-world evidence (RWE) on post-market assessment of medical devices.","authors":"Stefania Manetti, Elisa Guidotti, Federico Vola, Milena Vainieri","doi":"10.1017/S1744133124000148","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744133124000148","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The increasing use of real-world evidence (RWE) and real-world data (RWD) to assess post-market medical devices (MDs) might satisfy the urgent need for data sharing and traceability. This study sought to (i) get an overview of current practice in post-market assessments of MDs reporting on RWE/RWD; (ii) draw policy recommendations for governments and health organisations and identify a research agenda for scholars.A systematic review was undertaken until February 2024 following the PRISMA guidelines. Original peer-reviewed articles in English and incorporating RWE/RWD into any sort of post-market assessment strategy for an MD were included and their reference lists manually checked. A narrative synthesis was employed to describe evidence retrieved.Totally, 145 research articles were identified. Administrative databases were mostly utilised; clinical and/or economic evidence gathered in a short/medium time horizon the most frequently reported; other evidence types (e.g., organisational) underreported; patient perspectives rarely incorporated; the innovation complexity of MDs relatively low.To our knowledge, this study is the first in its kind to provide a comprehensive picture of how non-randomised evidence has been used when assessing MDs working in real-life conditions. The implications of this review might help health policy scholars in addressing the avenues for research in RWE for MDs and policy-makers to better understand the risks and benefits of medium and long-term use of MDs alongside clinical practice and make more informed decisions about adoption and use.</p>","PeriodicalId":46836,"journal":{"name":"Health Economics Policy and Law","volume":" ","pages":"1-33"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-13","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142972742","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}
{"title":"Procedural fairness to recalibrate the power imbalance in health decision-making: comment on the report: 'Open and inclusive: Fair processes for financing universal health coverage'.","authors":"Dheepa Rajan, Benjamin Rouffy-Ly","doi":"10.1017/S1744133124000197","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S1744133124000197","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>The policy-making process for health financing in most places lacks equity, failing to adequately consider the voices of ordinary citizens, residents, and especially those facing significant disadvantage. Procedural fairness is about addressing this imbalance, which requires a recalibration of power dynamics, ensuring that decision-making incorporates a more diverse range of perspectives. In this comment, we highlight the important contributions made by the report 'Open and inclusive: Fair processes for financing universal health coverage' in furthering the understanding and importance of procedural fairness in health financing decision-making especially as it relates to the three sub-functions of financing - revenue raising, pooling, and purchasing. We also argue for the importance of conceptual clarity - especially as to the added value of procedural fairness vis-à-vis accountability - and critically review the proposed framework for procedural fairness, emphasising the role of voice as the linchpin to advancing equity in influence.</p>","PeriodicalId":46836,"journal":{"name":"Health Economics Policy and Law","volume":" ","pages":"19-25"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"142477492","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}
{"title":"Why procedural fairness is essential to financing universal health coverage.","authors":"Rocco Friebel, Iris Wallenburg","doi":"10.1017/S1744133125000064","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1017/S1744133125000064","url":null,"abstract":"","PeriodicalId":46836,"journal":{"name":"Health Economics Policy and Law","volume":"20 1","pages":"1-3"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"144034893","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}
{"title":"Enhancing procedural fairness: a critique of the open and inclusive approach to health financing decisions.","authors":"John Kinuthia","doi":"10.1017/S1744133125000027","DOIUrl":"10.1017/S1744133125000027","url":null,"abstract":"<p><p>This article is a critique of a report, Open and Inclusive: Fair Processes for Financing Universal Health Coverage. The report proposes a framework that is meant to improve procedural fairness and how decisions in financing of health care can be fairer. The author of this article argues that while procedural fairness and the proposed framework are an important step in improving equity in health sector financing, the report falls short on several aspects of achieving the set objectives. First, the report does not place emphasis on the role of civic education as an important component of public education building on access to information. Therefore, there should be caution in assuming that improved dissemination of information will lead to increased civic action. Secondly, the author proposes that the report include principles that should guide how decisions are made in public deliberations when consensus cannot be achieved. Lastly, the framework in the report does not speak to the complexity of the trade-offs that have to be made between health and other sectors. The author argues that a key area of deliberations in health financing is understanding how practitioners in the sector can argue for better funding against other competing sector such as education and agriculture while still finding complementarities.</p>","PeriodicalId":46836,"journal":{"name":"Health Economics Policy and Law","volume":" ","pages":"13-18"},"PeriodicalIF":3.0,"publicationDate":"2025-01-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"143494234","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}