Risk-Adjusting the Doughnut Hole to Improve Efficiency and Equity

The doughnut hole: it's about medication adherence.

The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and Modernization Act went into effect on 1 January 2006. Part of this act was the creation of Medicare Part D, a federal program to subsidize the costs of prescription drugs for Medicare beneficiaries. In 2006, the plan required beneficiaries whose total annual drug costs exceeded $2250 to pay 100% of prescription costs until they spent $5100 on med...

Lessons From Zika Policies to Improve Gender Equity

Gender equity is easily supported in theory but harder to pursue in practice. In this article, the case of Zika travel policies is used to illustrate some glaring gaps related to gender, for both men and women, at both international and national levels. Zika travel policies have not considered new evidence on biological or social determinants of health, putting babies at risk of exposure. The a...

Effectiveness, Efficiency and Equity

Health is perceived as most precious good, and people feel its vulnerability. Societies have been trying to absorb, ameliorate or compensate consequences and health risks with varying emphasis and varying success. Due to the uniqueness of good health to a persons’ ability to live the life he or she wants, health care and performance of health care systems are under critical observation. In this...

Externalities, Efficiency and Equity

Community Health Worker Programs to Improve Healthcare Access and Equity: Are They Only Relevant to Low- and Middle-Income Countries?

Background Community Health Workers (CHWs) are proven to be highly effective in low- and middle-income countries with many examples of successful large-scale programs. There is growing interest in deploying CHW programs in high-income countries to address inequity in healthcare access and outcomes amongst population groups facing disadvantage. This study is the first that examines the scope and...