Tax subsidies for health insurance: costs and benefits.
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The continued rise in the uninsured population has lead to considerable interest in tax-based policies to raise the level of insurance coverage. Using a detailed microsimulation model for evaluating these policies, we find that while tax subsidies could significantly increase insurance coverage, even very generous tax policies could not cover more than a sizable minority of the uninsured population. For example, a generous refundable credit that costs $13 billion per year would reduce the ranks of the uninsured by only four million persons. We also find that the efficiency of tax policies, in terms of the cost per newly insured, inevitably would fall as more of the uninsured were covered. (+info)
Individual versus job-based health insurance: weighing the pros and cons.
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Although the majority of insured Americans receive their health insurance through their employers, some depend on the individual health insurance market. However, with increased criticism of the lack of choice in group coverage and various proposals including subsidies or tax credits to decrease the number of uninsured, the individual market may start to play a larger role. In this paper we conclude that although efficient large-group insurance will appropriately continue to exist, the individual market appears to be improving, in both administrative cost and protection against high premiums associated with high risk. For diverse workers now in small groups with little plan choice, the individual market might become a reasonable alternative. (+info)
Comparing employee health benefits in the public and private sectors, 1997.
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Data from the 1997 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Employer Health Insurance Survey provide new information comparing public- and private-sector employee health benefits. The federal government is ahead of other employers in adopting managed competition principles using financial incentives and consumer information to promote choosing efficient plans. Federal employees experience a $200 annual compensation gap relative to those in the private sector, but it is partly explained by advantage in purchasing power. In contrast, state and local governments make higher payments toward health insurance than private-sector employers do. Their premiums are equivalent, but they pay a greater share of the total cost. (+info)
Measuring hospital efficiency: a comparison of two approaches.
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OBJECTIVE: To compare the results of scoring hospital efficiency by means of two new types of frontier models, Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA) and stochastic frontier regression (SFR). STUDY SETTING: Financial records of Florida acute care hospitals in continuous operation over the period 1982-1993. STUDY DESIGN: Comparable DEA and SFR models are specified, and these models are then estimated to obtain the efficiency indexes yielded by each. The empirical results are subsequently examined to ascertain the extent to which they serve the needs of hospital policymakers. DATA COLLECTION: A longitudinal or panel data set is assembled, and a common set of output, input, and cost indicators is constructed to support the estimation of comparable DEA and SFR models. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: DEA and SFR models yield convergent evidence about hospital efficiency at the industry level, but divergent portraits of the individual characteristics of the most and least efficient facilities. CONCLUSIONS: Hospital policymakers should not be indifferent to the choice of the frontier model used to score efficiency relationships. They may be well advised to wait until additional research clarifies reasons why DEA and SFR models yield divergent results before they introduce these methods into the policy process. (+info)
Should we establish chest pain observation units in the UK? A systematic review and critical appraisal of the literature.
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OBJECTIVES: The chest pain observation unit (CPOU) has been developed in the United States to allow rigorous assessment of patients presenting with chest pain, thus expediting their discharge if assessment is negative. This review aims to examine the evidence for effectiveness and economic efficiency of the CPOU and to explore whether data from the United States can be extrapolated to the UK. METHOD: Search of the literature using Medline and critical appraisal of the validity of the data. RESULTS: Five studies comparing outcomes of CPOU care with routine practice showed no significant difference in objective measures including mortality or missed pathology. Eleven studies described outcomes of a cohort of CPOU patients. Follow up was comprehensive and demonstrated no clinically significant evidence of missed pathology. Nine studies comparing CPOU costs with routine care demonstrated impressive cost savings that were more modest when randomised comparisons were made. CONCLUSION: CPOU care is safe and costs are well defined. There is no strong evidence that a CPOU will improve outcomes if routine practice is good. Cost savings have been shown when compared with routine care in the United States but may not be reproduced the UK. (+info)
The geography of health insurance regulation.
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The health insurance market consists of three distinct segments--individual, small group, and large group--each governed by different economic and regulatory structures. A number of border-crossing techniques have arisen for avoiding the burdens of one segment and capitalizing on the benefits of others. Drawing from extensive qualitative research into the functioning of existing market structures, this paper describes these techniques and their purposes and effects. This road map helps to identify which reform proposals seek to produce true economic efficiencies and which have the potential to undermine previous reform objectives. (+info)
Blood utilisation in elective general surgery cases: requirements, ordering and transfusion practices.
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AIMS: For elective surgeries, over ordering of blood is a common practice. This can be decreased by simple means of changing the blood cross matching and ordering schedule depending upon the type of surgery performed. The principle aim of the study was to improve the efficacy of ordering system for maximum utilisation of blood and formulation of maximum surgical blood order schedule (MSBOS) for procedures where a complete cross-match appears mandatory. MATERIAL AND METHODS: We evaluated blood ordering and transfusion practices in 500 elective general surgical procedures at our institute. With the help of different indices such as cross-match to transfusion ratio (C/T ratio), transfusion probability (% T) and transfusion index (TI), blood ordering pattern was changed in the next 150 patients. RESULTS: Out of 1145 units of blood crossmatched for the first 500 patients only 265 were transfused with non-utilisation of 76.86% of ordered blood. With the help of the indices the wastage was reduced in next 150 patients, i.e. from 76.86% to 25.26% and improved the utilisation of blood, i.e. from 23.14% to 74.74%. CONCLUSIONS: Change of blood ordering patterns with use of MSBOS can avoid the over ordering of blood. (+info)
A trauma resource allocation model for ambulances and hospitals.
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OBJECTIVE: To develop a mathematical model for the location of trauma care resources. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: Severely injured patients queried from Maryland hospital discharge and vital statistics data. A spatial injury profile was created by parsing these patients into ZIP codes. STUDY DESIGN: The Trauma Resource Allocation Model for Ambulances and Hospitals (TRAMAH) was formulated using integer and heuristic programming. To maximize coverage of severely injured patients, trauma centers and aeromedical depots were simultaneously sited using TRAMAH. A severe injury was considered covered if at least one trauma center was sited within a time standard by ground, or if an aeromedical depot-trauma center pair was sited in such a way that the sum of the flying time from the aeromedical depot to the scene of injury plus the flying time from the scene of injury to the trauma center was within the same time standard. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: From 1992 to 1994, 26,774 severe injuries were considered for coverage. Across Maryland, 94.8 percent of severely injured residents had access to trauma system resources within 30 minutes and 70.3 percent had access within 15 minutes. For the same number of resources as the existing Maryland Trauma System, TRAMAH achieved a coverage objective of 99.97 percent within 30 minutes. This translated into an additional 461 severely injured people covered each year. Holding in place the trauma centers of the existing system, approximately the same percentage of coverage as that of the existing system was achieved within 15 minutes by optimally locating six fewer aeromedical depots. CONCLUSIONS: TRAMAH will allow trauma systems planners to better locate their resources with respect to spatial needs and response times. (+info)