Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
Interesting paper by Cabral and Dillender (2024). The randomization of gender assignment occurs since the Texas workers compensation insurance relies on random assignment of doctors to patients through their dispute resolution process. The abstract is below: Little is known about what drives gender disparities in health care and related social insurance benefits. Using data and…
How does one measure disability? This is a difficult question. Many health economists face an even more difficult question: how does one measured disability in claims? A paper by Ben-Shalom and Stapleton attempts to answer this question using six definitions: Chronic Illness and Disability Payment System (CDPS). Developed by Rick Kronick et al. 2000 (one…
In a series of papers, Coile, Milligan and Wise look at Social Security Programs and Retirement Around the World. In the sixth installment of the series, the authors look specifically at disability programs. Although stereotypically one would believe that most people exit the workforce due to choice and rely on Social Security, job pensions, and…
When the government extends benefits to individuals with specific characteristics (e.g., poverty, disability), the number of people who claim to have these characteristics will necessarily increase. For instance, there are reports that unemployed individuals who no longer qualify for welfare are now moving onto the disability rolls in large numbers. Are these people really disabled? A recent study by Gosling…
“The proportion of men collecting disability benefits at older ages varies greatly across countries — for example, more than 35 percent of 64-year-old men in Sweden and more than 25 percent of those in the Netherlands are on DI, versus 10 percent or less in Belgium, Italy, and Spain. Does this reflect differences in the…
Many economists claim that insurance that gives sick people cash to pay for their medical treatments is more efficient than insurance that provides in-kind medical services directly. Although providing in-kind services is more likely to decrease the number of false claimants than insurance that provides cash, cash benefits allow beneficiaries to control how they spend…
“Although the evidence was mixed for the 1980s and it is difficult to pinpoint when in the 1990s the decline began, during the mid- and late 1990s, the panel found consistent declines on the order of 0-2.5% per year for two commonly used measures in the disability literature: difficulty with daily activities and help with…
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 are truly unable to work, but many other individuals who are able–but not inclined–to work have taken advantage of government…