Consumer Preferences for Health Care Reform Options

This study uses the 1992 Health and Retirement Study to examine consumer preferences for four health care reform options: tax-financed national health insurance, personally subsidized Medicare extensions, publicly subsidized nursing home insurance, and tax credits for health insurance purchases. Males, non-Caucasians, the self-employed, those in excellent health, and those who reside in the Northeast favor national health insurance, while those with high levels of liquid and non-liquid assets tend to disfavor it. Males and those with higher expectations of living in nursing homes tend to favor personally subsidized Medicare extensions to cover nursing homes and home health care. Those with higher expectations of living in nursing homes also favor publicly subsidized nursing home insurance. Relatively little support for subsidized nursing home insurance is found among males and those with high levels of liquid and non-liquid assets. The self-employed tend to support tax credits for health insurance premiums.     

Making Health Care More Affordable Through Health Insurance Finance Reform

The way that we finance health insurance today is both unfair and inefficient. The tax code subsidizes the most expensive employment-based policies while penalizing those who buy insurance on their own or choose more basic policies. By reforming this system, we can both make health care more affordable for millions of people and get higher-value care for the money that we spend. These reforms should be coupled with policies to ensure that basic private insurance is affordable for everyone, including those with chronic health conditions or low income, and to ensure that patients and physicians have the tools that they need to make well-informed decisions. JEL Classification I11     

医改中规避供方诱导需求的补偿方式研究

在现行的医疗保障制度中,供方诱导需求被认为是导致医疗费用上涨的重要诱因,同时也是我国医疗领域最严重的道德风险问题。医疗领域的道德风险根源于供需双方的信息不对称,因此卫生经济学认为合理的补偿方式设计是必要的。我国现行医疗保障制度中的医疗供方的道德风险问题应该引起医改部门的重视,通过效用模型分析,政府对医疗供方的补偿方式的设计应该成为政策制定的重点。结论显示,用按固定人头付费相对于现行的按项目付费制能够更有效的规避道德风险。     

现代健康观对我国医改的启示

现代人的健康观是整体健康,医学重点已从诊断治疗转变为预防保健;健康是一种人力资本,用于医疗方面的开支属于＂劳动能力的修理费用＂;＂健康＂已被提到公民福利和国家义务的层面,对国民健康的保障能力要用＂可及性＂和＂可得性＂这两个指标作为标准。现代健康观启示我们：对医改应预防与治疗相结合、遏制医疗费用＂黑洞＂、统筹城乡医疗资源的均衡配置等。     

Health Systems and Health Reform in Europe

The organisation of health care differs widely across Europe. Access to services, financing schemes, incentives for better care, and administrative efficiency are challenges that are being dealt with in a variety of ways. Are insurance-based systems the best solution for balancing resources and services or are national health funds preferable? Does the introduction of competition fulfil high hopes for better service at lower costs? What are the relative advantages and drawbacks of central and local management of health care?     

国际贸易统计制度改革势在必行

今年二月初，来自发达和发展中国家的200多名统计专家云集日内瓦出席贸易统计全球论坛，就如何改进国际贸易统计问题建言献策。     

Improving Incentives in Health Care Spending

Although U.S. economic growth is likely to continue to be robust, the growth of private and public spending on health care presents long-run public policy challenges. To meet these challenges health care resources must be used more efficiently. Currently, there are few incentives to put health care dollars to the highest value use. This is true in both public and private spending. An important element of the problem lies in the tax-preferred treatment given to employer-provided insurance but not to out-of-pocket spending. The resulting bias towards first-dollar insurance coverage means that consumers are insulated from the real costs of the health care that they consume and have little reason to evaluate whether the benefits are greater than those costs. Moreover, they seldom have sufficient price and quality information to make informed decisions. Health Savings Accounts (HSAs) are a promising way to remove the tax-penalty for enrolling in catastrophic insurance and paying for routine care out of pocket. Given the information that they need, consumers would then have more choices and more control, strengthening their role in reducing waste, improving efficiency, and promoting competition. Coupled with other policies, HSAs can be a critical component in moving toward an efficient and equitable health care system. JEL Classification I11     

跨境电商统计方法改革研究

目前政府部门主流统计方法尚不能准确地反映出跨境电商全行业发展的实际情况。伴随着国家跨境电商综合试验区试点工作的全面展开,很有必要再次深入探讨现行的跨境电商统计体系。本文针对我国在跨境电子商务统计工作方面的理论研究和应用情况,从跨境电子商务统计的特殊性出发,首先分析了当前主管部门和研究机构各方发布的统计数据的瑕疵;然后提出了出口跨境电商统计方法的设计原则和标准;最后提出了现行跨境电商统计方法的改进设想和建议。     

老年人保健食品及医疗器械免费体验的相关问题

随着经济的增长与现代人消费观念和消费模式的改变,近年来,专门针对老年人的保健食品和医疗器械体验店开满大街小巷,其中一些免费体验店存在诸多安全隐患。因此,本文从食品药品监管角度出发,详细阐述存在的问题。     

我国目前老年保健品营销市场现状及拓展分析

当前,我国保健品市场在发展中长期存在着生产企业重广告轻研发,品种单一不能满足需求,唯利是图甚至虚抬高价误导群众的情况等问题,导致老年人在选用保健品时受虚假广告影响较大,真假难辨,不能根据自身情况合理选择保健品,用后效果不佳,严重打击了消费信心。保健品生产企业在管理上应加快创新步伐,提高管理水平,产研结合,寻求科技含量突破注重树立品牌效应;在销售上应积极运用网络新型营销模式,探索精细化营销模式,根据购买力合理定价,注重售后服务,从口碑中改善品质,积极开拓国际市场,从而不断促进我国老年保健品市场健康稳定发展。     

FOCUS: Not-for-profit Health Services and the German Health Care System

Reforms in the German health care system in the attempt to bring more competition into health care have increased the sovereignty of the insured or patients, who have finally been allowed to make choices. "The start of a reorientation of the statutory health insurance system and hospital care are to be welcomed as first steps towards a supply of health services that reflects individual preferences." The authors can be contacted care of Prof. Dr. Oberender at Rechts- und Wirtschafswissenschaftliche Fakulät, Universität Bayreuth, 95440 Bayreuth, Germany, where Dr Oberender is Professor in the Faculty of Law and Economics, and Ansgar Hebborn is his Assistant. The authors wish to record their gratitude to Jan Hacker for translating this article.     

FOCUS: Health Care as Business Introduction

One of the commonest complaints in Britain against the current National Health Service is that business and commercial values are being allowed, and even encouraged, to dominate the more humane values involved in caring for people in their weakness. What is the situation and where are the problems, and what can Britain learn from Germany and Holland? We are grateful to the distinguished author on business ethics and member of our Editorial Board, Professor Tom Sorell, for undertaking the production of this FOCUS section of the October Review on such a sensitive and topical issue.     

Consumer Attitudes Toward Health and Health Care: A Differential Perspective

Measures of attitudes of health care consumers toward their own health behaviors and health care institutions reveal the overall pattern of their views as well as their segmented views. Results suggest that some consumers may take a more scientific approach to health care and prevention than others and that demographics, health status, and health consciousness are partial predictors of that consumer approach. Policy makers for health care should formulate and target programs with different segments of the population in mind.     

Network Development and Application in Health Care

Abstract

Service quality is important to health care. The research took advantage of a unique opportunity to study health care from the perspective of all relevant stakeholders. The major results of this research were insights concerning the structures and processes that characterise successful professional health care services and, more broadly, professional services generally. Rather than just communicating in a system prescribed way, successful professionals combine an ambiguous system with extensive interaction with other stakeholders to develop networks. In this way they achieve superior service quality for their patients.     

广西健康养老养生产业发展策略研究

人们对健康的追求,使得健康养老养生产业具有强大且广阔的前景和市场。健康产业为人们健康提供相关产品和服务。养老产业为老年人提供商品、设施及服务,满足其特殊需要。养生产业满足人类健康养生需求。基于波特钻石理论的基础,对广西健康养老养生旅游产业进行分析,广西省中草药资源丰富,拥有众多的长寿之乡,人口老龄化较为普遍,健康养老养生产业供不应求,但由于基础设施落后,产业人才匮乏,技术创新能力不足,缺乏政府引导,导致了产业发展受限,尚未形成完整而成熟的产业体系。广西健康养老养生产业要抓住市场需求,合理整合产业资源,提升产业融合力度,建立良好竞合关系,利用政府职能,加大产业投入,并打开国际市场。实现经济效益、社会效益、环境效益共赢,为健康养老养生产业发展提供新的增长空间和注入新的活力。     

Health Care Matters: Supply Chains In and Of the Health Sector

Providing health care involves a complex enterprise, and the trade‐off between quality and cost has been particularly stark compared to other industries. However, a recent focus on health sector supply networks is now producing significant innovations and improvements. This Special Topic Forum illustrates for the academic and practitioner community how health care supply chain research can benefit from our evolving understanding of supply chains and help push that understanding even further. We classify health care supply chain research into two broad categories—supply chain in health care and supply chain of health care—to set an agenda for future research.     

中国城乡老年健康及照料状况研究

人口老龄化背景下我国城乡的老年健康及老年照料问题日益严重.利用中国城乡老年人状况调查数据、全国残疾人抽样调查数据以及国家卫生服务利用调查数据,从两周患病率、慢性病患病率、残疾水平、自评健康以及健康预期寿命等方面分析了我国城乡老年人的健康状况,探讨了目前我国城乡老年人的照料提供来源.提出了人口老龄化趋势下提高老年健康水平,应时老年人口照料危机的政策建议.     

Bending and Stretching the Health Care Cost Curve

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (PPACA) has a number of provisions that aimed at slowing the rate of growth of health care spending. This paper examines the most prominent of these provisions and finds them to be seriously flawed and unlikely to deliver savings as intended. They are either too weak or liable to compromise quality. Moreover, some of the most important drivers of health care costs, such as fee for service payments to physicians under Medicare or limitations on physician liability are not addressed adequately. Thus, it is unlikely that the PPACA in its present form will do much to reduce the growth rate of health care expenditures.     

Consumer Satisfaction with a Managed Health Care Plan

This study estimates the effects of four categories of variables hypothesized to influence patient satisfaction with a managed care health benefits plan. Ordinal probit is used to include the full spectrum of information available on the satisfaction measure. Results indicate that personal experience, expectations, and judgments about services covered influence overall satisfaction with the plan. Individual differences have little effect on satisfaction.     

Customer Perception in the Health Care Sector:

Customer perceptions of quality play a major role in the success or failure of an organization. Their perception also serves to determine their level of satisfaction or dissatisfaction. This paper will discuss those factors that the customer perceives as "quality" factors and how those factors affect satisfaction. The second section of the paper will look at who is (or should be) responsible for implementing and carrying out the goals of a quality improvement program. A case study of a large hospital located in the American Midwest is also presented. Finally, recommendations for the best way to begin a quality improvement program (i.e., measure customer perceptions of quality, involving everyone, and making a real commitment to this program--forever) will be given.