International Journal of Health Care Finance and Economics

Опис:

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The demand for health care will surely continue to increase in the future. How to finance the cost of that care will remain on the policy agenda. In the public domain expenditures on health services will always compete with other uses of tax funds such as defence and education; the debate about the magnitude of the governments involvement in health care is here to stay. In the private sector payment for health services not covered by government in the form of insurance premiums and direct payment competes with other consumption spending and saving. The problem of how to finance health care in either sector must be addressed with general tax financing social insurance and private financing as alternatives. Knowledge of why people choose alternative arrangements either in markets or through the political process is one key to understanding the problem. In addition choices with regard to the financing of health care are also crucial because they determine methods of payment for health care and payment methods in turn influence the supply decisions of health care providers. This creates an important connection between the financing of a health care system and its performance. The problems of financing and the links among financing payment and performance will constitute the core topics of International Journal of Health Care Finance and Economics . The primary audience for this journal will be health economists and health services researchers. In addition readership is certain to include health care providers and managers and their trade associations who need to know about the financial pressures facing insurers and governments with consequences for regulation and mandates. Insurers and employee benefit organizations also want to learn more about provider responses to incentives and regulations. Representatives of social security and government wish to find out about and compare international experiences with regard to the level and distribution of the tax burden associated with reforms. The editors of International Journal of Health Care Finance and Economics encourage submissions that analyze the behavior and interaction of the actors in health care viz. consumers providers insurers and governments under the influence of health care finance and regulation. Preference will be given to contributions that combine theoretical with empirical work evaluate conflicting findings or compare experiences between countries and jurisdictions. The composition of the editorial board is designed to avoid editorial bias. Every effort will be made to reach a first decision about a submission within one hundred days.