Suchergebnisse

This paper explores different empirical strategies to examine the effect of cost sharing for prescription drugs in some dimensions of medication-related quality, namely the probability of inappropriate prescription drug use among United States seniors. Using data from 1996 to 2005, we explore various specifications that correct for sample selection, endogeneity, and unobserved heterogeneity. We find a small, but measurable, negative price elasticity for inappropriate drug use with respect to self-reported average out-of-pocket costs for all drugs consumed. That is, user fees reduce the use of potentially inappropriate medications, however the elasticity of cost sharing is lower than that of drugs in general and the price elasticity is relatively close to zero, suggesting that any quality improvements from co-payments are small.

AbstractHow does the deregulation of medicine influence access to drugs? This paper provides an economic policy assessment of the effects of medicine deregulation drawing on the Peruvian experience between 1991 and 2006. As in other low‐income countries, health insurance development is inadequate, drug expenditure is mostly paid out‐of‐pocket and approximately one third of the Peruvian population has limited access to 'essential medicines'. Market deregulation in this context could have exerted an impact on prices and hence reduce access to medicines. Based on this evidence, we find that product and price deregulation of the medicines market appears to have reduced consumer trust of locally produced medicines and incentivised a switch to branded and more expensive drugs. The latter resulted in a drug price spike, which in turn further decreased access to medicines. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

With the ageing of populations in Europe, one can expect new pressures on the existing housing stock to accommodate those older individuals with mobility problems; at the same time, housing assets are expected to be called upon to guarantee financial security for older homeowners. The accessibility and suitability of housing, and the financial security that housing provides, may exert an independent influence on well-being; to what extent either factor prevails in influencing well-being has important policy implications. This paper empirically examines the impact of investment and environmental housing influences on satisfaction with housing in a population of older people. Data are used from the European country which had the greatest number of homeowners at the time of the survey (Spain), and where at the same time older people rely heavily on informal caregiving. Robust evidence is presented to suggest that satisfaction with housing in old age is indeed independently associated with environmental influences. Although homeownership does improve well-being related to housing, home equity does not exhibit a significant and independent effect.