Health Care and Reproductive Politics

What does the federal health care reform act of 2010 say about pregnancy, contraception, abortion, and reproductive health care generally? The United States has the most expensive health care system of any country in the world. Medical costs per person and the percentage of...

Has Price Competition Changed Hospital Revenues and Expenses in New York?

This study analyzes the factors that influenced hospital expenses and revenues prior to and following the enactment of the New York State Health Care Reform Act of 1996 (HCRA)—the period from 1994–1999. HCRA was expected to encourage price competition which in turn was anticipated to lower hospital revenues and expenses. We measured the differential effects on hospital revenues and expenses in markets with varying degrees of competition. We also measured the relationship between hospital revenues and expenses and the increased concentration resulting from the formation of local hospital systems. We found that revenues and expenses both grew more slowly for hospitals located in more competitive markets; hospital systems that increased concentration tended to have higher revenues. In the short run at least, price competition induced by HCRA did constrain both hospital expense and revenue growth, although the increase in hospital mergers countered this trend.

Laboratory diagnostics in light of massive changes in official health policies

Virtually 100% of the German population has health insurance. Of this 100%, approximately 90% are members of the Statutory Health Insurance plan. This insurance plan assumes responsibility for practically all of the costs of treatment; self-participation by the patient in the costs is minimal. To counteract the financial deficits of the Statutory Health Insurance funds, the Health Care Reform Act was introduced in 1993, bringing with it massive economy measures for everyone involved in the health sector. For the practitioner sector, this new legislation provides for, among other things, revision of the structure and the reimbursement of laboratories. In this context, the originally agreed-upon introduction of lump-sum payments as reimbursement for laboratory tests was abandoned, in the face of vigorous resistance by the medical profession. Instead, the system of reimbursement for each individual test continues to apply. However, the number of tests is to be limited for each specific group of doctors. In addition, the laboratory fee in the practitioner sector is being reduced by 20%.