The Effect of Newer Drugs on Health Spending: Do They Really Increase the Costs?

We analyze the influence of technological progress on pharmaceuticals on rising health expenditures using US State level panel data. Improvements in medical technology are believed to be partly responsible for rapidly rising health expenditures. Even if the technological progress in medicine improves health outcomes and life quality, it can also increase the expenditure on health care. Our findings suggest that newer drugs increase the spending on prescription drugs since they are usually more expensive than their predecessors. However, they lower the demand for other types of medical services, which causes the total spending to decline. A one-year decrease in the average age of prescribed drugs causes per capita health expenditures to decrease by $31.92. The biggest decline occurs in spending on hospital and home health care due to newer drugs.Health care expenditure; pharmaceuticals; technology diffusion

RESEARCH ISSUES FACING THE FOOD DISTRIBUTION SECTOR: A LOOK AHEAD

Research and Development/Tech Change/Emerging Technologies,

Distributional Considerations in the Overregulation of Health Professionals, Health Facilities, and Health Plans

Conover addresses the equity issue in health care spending. Conover concludes that the marginal impact of health regulation is to make the US health system more, rather than less, regressive

Silicon Valley's Changing Nonprofit Sector

Measures the growth of nonprofits and foundations in Silicon Valley between 1994 and 2003 to provide an overview of the region's nonprofit sector in relation to business and industry, and compares it to the Bay Area and the entire state of California

Creating Opportunities: The State of the Nonprofit Sector in Los Angeles 2007

Provides an annual analysis and statistical review of the state of the nonprofit sector in the region, explores current policy and budget developments impacting the sector, and seeks to inform debate about the sector's current and future role

The Economics of Reproduction-Related Health Care

This paper presents the first systematic estimates of the direct money costs of reproduction-related health services. In 1982 Americans spent approximately $17.7 billion for contraception, abortion, treatment of infertility, obstetrical care, and infant care. This represented 5.5 percent of total health care spending and was equal to$327 per woman of reproductive age (15?44). Obstetrical care accounted for almost half of the reproduction-related expenditures and infant care accounted for morethan one-third. The paper discusses the demographic, technologic, economic,and sociopolitical factors that determine these expenditures. It also considers related public policy issues regarding legal status, sources of funding, and allocation of resources.

How the epidemiological transition affects health policy isues in three Latin American countries

The authors focus on health policy issues associated with health reform needed to meet the health needs arising from the demographic and epidemiological transitions. They illustrate these policy issues by analyzing Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico, whose populations represent about 60 percent of Latin America's population. Brazil, Colombia, and Mexico are facing an important decline in mortality and fertility rates. New health problems have arisen related to rapid urbanization and industrialization - for example, injuries, accidental intoxication and poisoning, and the occupational and noncommunicable conditions (such as hypertension and diabetes) affecting an aging population. At the same time, these countries are not free of old health problems - such as infectious and parasitic diseases - although their mortality rates are declining. That is, old and new health problems coexist while wide social disparities persist in these developing Latin American countries. The epidemiological diversity and the speed of change in disease profiles makes the health transition in many developing countries more complex than the situation developed countries faced. Most of these countries also have inadequate health infrastructure and are unlikely to be able to afford to develop them in the next decade or so. Most governments are also being pressed to adopt the therapeutic medical model to deal with noncommunicable conditions. The authors arrive at the following seven conclusions about the implications of the epidemiological transition for health policy in developing Latin American countries. The transition offers an empirical framework for strategic planning for the health system, allowing policymakers to anticipate future trends and causes of mortality and anticipate disease scenarios. Since more disease is expected among the adult and elderly populations, the health system's mission should be revised with more emphasis on disease prevention and control and less on satisfying demand. Existing inequities in the geographical distribution of health resources and in the quality of care between health institutions should be corrected to avoid greater epidemiological polarization. The health care model should be reformed to strengthen the technical capacity to provide preventive and curative services at the first level of care to control the dual burden of disease. Efficiency and quality of care need to be substantially improved to accommodate the greater demand for clinical services, especially those provided at hospitals. Criteria for setting priorities in the health sector must be defined, so resources can be allocated among competing health needs and socioeconomic groups. These countries need to strengthen their ability to analyze the health status of populations, to evaluate the health system's performance, and to design cost-effective interventions to deal with noncommunicable diseases.Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Health Systems Development&Reform,Housing&Human Habitats,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,Gender and Health

Impact of Preventive Health Care on Indian Industry and Economy

In this study, the authors have tried to examine the empirical evidence on the relationship between preventive health care and labour productivity and corporate profitability. While doing so, they try to generate awareness on the positive role of preventive health care in boosting the corporate sectors performance and improving the countrys economy. Toward the end, based on their findings, they offer recommendations for policymakers and corporate management to promote preventive healthcare practice among employees. The primary research undertaken for this study included an electronic survey of some of the most well-established companies in the country, as well as a field-cum-electronic survey with a sample of employees in Delhi and the National Capital Region. Preventive health care holds enormous promise for the competitiveness of Indian companies, and for the countrys economy in the global arena. In an era when the service sector is gaining pre-eminence, the value of the individual employee has increased more than ever before. Employees with specialized skills are the focal point on whose well being and performance the productivity of a company rests. In a highly competitive corporate environment, companies cannot afford the absence of their employees due to sickness, caused by a sedentary lifestyle, etc., or a poor performance at the workplace due to poor health. Both as part of their corporate social responsibility and to boost their profits, a number of firms are offering preventive health care facilities to their employees. And it is on their performance, productivity and profitability that Indias growth potential and global competitiveness depends substantially. Unfortunately, while the corporate sector has been quick to realize the benefits of preventive health care, policy has lagged behind and we do not yet have fiscal or other incentives that encourage prevention. While public spending on health has stagnated at 0.9 per cent of the GDP since the mid-1980s, and the government per capita health expenditure is one of the lowest in the world (US$7, as against US$2,548 in the United States), the government should focus its limited resources towards the health of the poor, and provide tax exemptions to sections which can take care of their own health needs.preventive, executive, corporate health care, check-ups, employee wellness, lifestyle changes, health policy, fiscal incentives

Abstracts of Invited and Selected Papers and Organized Symposia, WAEA Annual Meetings, San Francisco, California, July 6-8, 2005

Teaching/Communication/Extension/Profession,

The job creation effect of R&D expenditures

In this study we use a unique database covering 25 manufacturing and service sectors for 16 European countries over the period 1996-2005, for a total of 2,295 observations, and apply GMM-SYS panel estimations of a demand-for-labour equation augmented with technology. We find that R&D expenditures have a job-creating effect, in accordance with the previous theoretical and empirical literature discussed in the paper. Interestingly enough, the labour-friendly nature of R&D emerges in both the flow and the stock specifications. These findings provide further justification for the European Lisbon-Barcelona targets.Technological change, corporate R&D, employment, product innovation, GMMSYS