BACKGROUND As an important outcome of the health system, equity in health service utilization has attracted an increasing amount of attention in the literature on health reform in China in recent years. The poor, who frequently require more services, are often the least able to pay, while the wealthy utilize disproportionately more services although they have less need. Whereas equity in health...

This paper examines the standard test for asymmetric information in insurance markets: that its presence will result in a positive correlation between insurance coverage and risk occurrence. We show empirically that while there is no evidence of this positive correlation in the long-term care insurance market, asymmetric information still exists. We use individuals’ subjective assessments of th...

Seeking to redress health disparities across income and race, many policy-makers mandate health insurance benefits, presuming that equalized benefits will help equalize use of beneficial health services. This paper tests that presumption by measuring health care use by a diverse population with comprehensive health insurance. Focusing on use of mental health care and pharmaceuticals, it finds t...

This study analyzes data from the World Health Survey (WHS) conducted in 2003, with a sample of 5,000 individuals 18 years and older. Some 24.0% of the interviewees had private health insurance, and the main variables associated with private coverage were number of household assets, age, level of education, formal employment, living in municipalities with more than 50,000 inhabitants, and good ...

This paper examines the effects of limitations on the excludability of employerprovided health insurance from taxable income on the pricing policies of insurance companies. Concentrating on the demand side, standard analysis (e.g., Congressional Budget Office, 1994) would suggest that individuals previously purchasing above the limitation would reduce their level of coverage, while those below ...

conclusions accordingly, major mental disorders in the staff of harm reduction centers, especially women and younger people need to be considered more than before. background creating a supportive environment encourages charity services to help risk groups and individuals which has magnificent impacts on reducing their harm. objectives according to this plan, the purpose of this study was to in...

INTRODUCTION In the majority of developing countries, the volume of medical insurance services, provided by social insurance organizations is inadequate. Thus, supplementary medical insurance is proposed as a means to address inadequacy of medical insurance. Accordingly, in this article, we attempted to provide the context for expansion of this important branch of insurance through identificati...

OBJECTIVE To examine medical and mental health care expenditures for large numbers of individuals with diabetes enrolled in employment-sponsored insurance plans. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS Health insurance billing data for approximately 1.3 million individuals enrolled in health insurance plans sponsored by 862 large self-insured employers nationwide were used to examine employer expenditure...