University of Innsbruck Reports Findings in Healthcare Economics (Determinants of prepaid systems of healthcare financing: a worldwide country-level perspective)

2021 APR 12 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- New research on Economics - Healthcare Economics is the subject of a report. According to news reporting out of Innsbruck, Austria, by NewsRx editors, research stated, “In this paper we examine determinants of prepaid modes of health care financing in a worldwide cross-country perspective. We use three different indicators to capture the role of prepaid modes in health care financing: (i) the share of total prepaid financing as percent of total current health expenditures, (ii) the share of voluntary prepaid financing as percent of total prepaid financing, and (iii) the share of compulsory health insurance as percent of total compulsory prepaid financing.”

Financial support for this research came from University of Innsbruck and Medical University of Innsbruck.

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of Innsbruck, “In the econometric analysis, we refer to a panel data set comprising 154 countries and covering the time period 2000-2015. We apply a static as well as a dynamic panel data model. We find that the current structure of prepaid financing is significantly determined by its different forms in the past. The significant influence of GDP per capita, governmental revenues, the agricultural value added, development assistance for health, degree of urbanization and regulatory quality varies depending on the financing structure we look at. The share of the elderly and the education level are only of minor importance for explaining the variation in a country’s share of prepaid health care financing. The importance of the mentioned variables as determinants for prepaid health care financing also varies depending on the countries’ socio-economic development.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “From our analysis we conclude that more detailed information on indicators which reflect the distribution of individual characteristics (such as income, family size and structure and health risks) within a country’s population would be needed to gain deeper insight into the decisive determinants for prepaid health care financing.”

This research has been peer-reviewed.

For more information on this research see: Determinants of prepaid systems of healthcare financing: a worldwide country-level perspective. International Journal of Health Economics and Management, 2021. International Journal of Health Economics and Management can be contacted at: Springer, One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, Ny, United States.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting Andrea M. Leiter, Faculty of Economics and Statistics, University of Innsbruck, Universitaetsstrasse 15, 6020, Innsbruck, Austria.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10754-021-09301-w. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

Publisher contact information for the International Journal of Health Economics and Management is: Springer, One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, Ny, United States.

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