international health care systems

Too fat to work

The incapacity benefit system in the UK is intended to provide an income support for those unable to work.  Like any government program, many of the beneficiaries are in dire need of the money and...

Why are we Obese?

The simple answer for this is that calorie intake is higher than the number of calories burned. But why are people getting fatter? In which countries are people the fattest? This is the questioned...

Medical Tourism: Good or Bad?

According to the Telegraph (’Record numbers go abroad for health‘), “More than 70,000 Britons will have treatment abroad this year – a figure that is forecast to rise to almost...

Health Care System Grudge Match: Canada vs. U.S.

Who has a better health care system: Canada or the U.S. Michael Moore would vote for Canada. Libertarians would side with the U.S. A new NBER working paper by June O’Neill and Dave...

UK Doctors refuse to fix builder’s broken ankle unless he quits smoking

In a follow-up to my “No hip replacement for you, fatso!” post, the Daily Mail reports that in Britain”Doctors refuse to fix builder’s broken ankle unless he quits...

WSJ on the Dutch Health Care System

Yesterday, the Wall Street Journal (”…Model For U.S. Health-Care System“) investigated recent reforms in the health care system in the Netherlands. New System in Town The new system...

No hip replacement for you, fatso!

Bob is a British citizen and is 50 years old. He has never been unemployed and has paid thousands of pounds in taxes into the NHS system. Up until now, he has been very healthy and has not had much...

Optimal Contracts for Health Services in the Presence of Waiting Times and Asymmetric Information

Should hospitals with long waiting times have higher or lower budget transfers? Offering hospitals who have low wait times more money will increase a hospital’s incentives to decrease wait...

Megan McArdle: questioning the moral justice of a single payer system

While almost all economists will argue that a single payer health care system is inefficient, many economists support the idea on redistributive ground. Taxing the young and healthy–either...

List Size and Primary Care Production

In Norway, each primary physician assumes medical responsibility for a well-defined population of patients. Norwegian physicians receive approximately NOK 300 (~$50 USD) per patient on their list...