We develop an approach to conducting large-scale randomized public policy experiments intended to be more robust to the political interventions that have ruined some or all parts of many similar previous efforts. Our proposed design is insulated from selection bias in some circumstances even if we lose observations; our inferences can still be unbiased even if politics disrupts any two of the t...

This paper studies the role of private and public long term care (LTC) insurance programs in a world in which family assistance is uncertain. Benefits are paid in case of disability but cannot be conditioned (directly), due to moral hazard problems, on family aid. Under a topping up scheme, when the probability of altruism is high, there is no need for insurance. At lower probabilities, insuran...

In any system of health insurance, a decision must be made about what treatments the insurance should cover. One way to make this decision is to rank treatments by their ratios of health benefits to treatment costs. If treatments that are not offered by the health insurance can be purchased out of pocket, the socially optimal ranking of treatments to be included in the health insurance is diffe...

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The property-liability insurance industry has experienced significant turmoil during the past decade. Three related issues have received enormous attention: increases in the frequency and severity of insurance company insolvencies, high and increasing costs of automobile and workers’ compensation coverage, and volatility in prices and in availability of commercial liability insurance coverage. ...

In the USA, approximately 4% of the estimated 1 million Salmonella infections occurring annually are reported to public health. Administrative claims data from large health insurance companies capture disease-specific data which could potentially enhance public health surveillance. To determine the utility of medical claims data for public health reporting of Salmonella, we assessed medical cla...

Throughout the postwar era in federal health policy, policymakers have sought to expand both public and private insurance coverage, while wrestling with the cost consequences of the demand generated by the insurance-financing mechanisms thus created. This essay advances the view that the limits to insurance expansion have been reached and that public and private plan sponsors will henceforth co...

BACKGROUND The purpose of this study is to describe the prevalence of Papanicolaou (Pap) smear use for cervical cancer screening and to estimate its association with type of health care insurance. METHODS A cross-sectional study using data from the Health, Well-Being and Aging in Latin America and the Caribbean Study (SABE). The sample includes 6357 women aged 60 and older from seven cities. ...

BACKGROUND Numerous states have implemented policies expanding public insurance eligibility or subsidizing private insurance for parents. OBJECTIVES To assess the impact of parental health insurance expansions from 1999 to 2012 on the likelihood that parents are insured; their children are insured; both the parent and child within a family unit are insured; and the type of insurance. DESIGN...