Bakgrund: Fetma är ett folkhälsoproblem som har ökat dramatiskt de senaste två decennierna. För att behandla extrem fetma har magsäcksoperationer blivit en allt mer vanlig metod. De hälsoekonomiska aspekterna av operation har ännu inte studerats i Sverige. Syfte: Studiens syfte var att belysa hälsoekonomiska aspekter av magsäcksoperationer som intervention mot fetma. Metod: Metoden var en litteraturstudie. Elva vetenskapliga studier valdes ut, analyserades och sammanställdes utifrån hälsoekonomiska aspekter. Resultat: Magsäcksoperationer var kostnadseffektiva som intervention mot fetma i jämförelse med ingen intervention, traditionell intervention och medicinsk behandling. Studiernas resultat varierade i tid till break even och beräkning av inkrementell kostnadskvot. Troliga anledningar till dessa skillnader var studiernas olika ursprungsländer och tidsperspektiv. Slutsats: Ur ett hälsoekonomiskt perspektiv rekommenderas operationer som intervention mot fetma. Dock bör etiska aspekter beaktas när samhällets begränsade ekonomiska resurser ska fördelas mellan olika interventioner. / Background: Obesity has increased dramatically in the last 20 years and has become a major public health issue. Bariatric surgery has become a more commonly used method for treating morbid obesity. The health economic aspects of bariatric surgery have not yet been studied in Sweden. Aim: The study highlights the health economic aspects of bariatric surgery as an intervention to treat obesity. Method: The method used was a literature review. Eleven scientific studies were selected, analyzed and compiled using a health economic perspective. Results: Bariatric surgery was a cost effective intervention for treating obesity, compared with no interventions, traditional interventions and medical treatment. The results of the studies vary in time to break even and incremental cost ratio. The studies different countries of origin and time perspectives are possible reasons for these differences. Conclusion: From a health economic perspective bariatric surgery was recommended as an intervention for treating obesity. However, ethical issues should be considered when the society's limited financial resources are distributed between different interventions.

This paper conducts an analysis of county level data to determine the effect of fast food restaurants on type 2 diabetes rates. Due to endogeneity concerns with respect to the location of fast food restaurants, this paper follows the work of Dunn (2010) and uses the number of interstate exits in a given county to serve as an instrument for fast food restaurants. The strength of the instrument, which is theoretically and empirically tested in this paper, imposes some restraints on the interpretation of the findings. Using the Two-Stage Least Squares estimation method, I find that the presence of fast food restaurants has a positive and statistically significant effect on type 2 diabetes rates at the county level.

<p>This thesis comprises three essays that empirically investigate important issues in two areas of health economics: physician labour supply and health insurance policy interventions.</p> <p>In the first essay, gendered associations between family status and physician labour supply are explored in the Canadian labour market, where physicians are paid according to a common fee schedule and have substantial discretion in setting their hours of work. Data from 1991 to 2006 show no gender difference in physician labour supply after controlling for family status. Male and female physicians have statistically indistinguishable hours of work when never married and without children. Married male physicians, however, have higher market hours than unmarried male physicians and parenthood either increases their hours or leaves them unchanged. In contrast, married female physicians have lower market hours than unmarried physicians and parenthood substantially lowers market hours. Little change over time in these patterns is observed for males, but for females two offsetting trends are observed: the magnitude of the marriage-hours effect declined, whereas that for motherhood increased. Preferences and/or social norms induce substantially different labour market outcome across the sexes. In terms of work at home, the presence of children is associated with higher hours for male physicians, but for females the hours increase is at least twice as large. A male physician’s spouse is much less likely to be employed in the presence of children, and if employed, has lower market hours in the presence of children. In contrast, a female physician’s spouse is more likely to be employed in the presence of children, and if employed, has slightly lower market hours in the presence of children. Both male and female physicians have lower hours of work when married to another physician.</p> <p>This second essay examines the impacts of a mandatory, universal prescription drug insurance program on health care utilization and health outcomes in a public health care system with free physician and hospital services. Beginning in 1997, all residents of the province of Quebec, Canada, were required by law to have drug insurance coverage. Under this program, all persons under age 65 who are eligible for a private plan are required to join that plan, while the public prescription drug insurance plan covers all Quebecers who are not eligible for a private plan. Using the National Population Health Survey from 1994 to 2003, we find that the mandatory program substantially increased drug coverage among the general population. The program also increased medication use and general practitioner visits but had little effect on specialist visits and hospitalization. Findings from quantile regressions suggest that there was a large improvement in the health status of less healthy individuals. Further analysis by pre-policy drug insurance status and the presence of chronic conditions reveals a marked increase in the probability of taking medication and visiting a general practitioner among the previously uninsured and those with a chronic condition. We also find evidence of positive health gains among the chronically ill.</p> <p>The third essay examines the impact of delisting routine eye exam services on patient eye care utilization and on providers’ labour market outcomes in a public health care system. Beginning in the early 1990s, provincial governments in Canada started to de-insure routine eye examinations from the basket of publicly funded health care services. We exploit delisting policy changes across Canadian provinces to estimate the impact of delisting from the supply- and demand-sides. Demand side analysis using the National Population Health Survey and Canadian Community Health Survey data suggests that the delisting of eye exams for the working age population decreased the probability of using eye care among this population group. However, the number of visits among those who continued to use eye care services was not affected. We also find suggestive evidence that the delisting policies targeted at the working age population were associated with increased eye care utilization among the elderly patients. Using the optometrist sample from the Canadian census data we find that the delisting of eye exams decreased optometrists’ weekly work hours while raised their annual work weeks. There was no statistically significant effect on optometrists’ income.</p> / Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Background: This thesis focuses on the economic analyses of type‐2 diabetes complications defined as macro‐vascular (myocardial infarction, stroke, ischemic heart disease, heart failure) and micro‐vascular (amputation and eye‐related complications leading to blindness in one eye). Diabetes‐related complications are a substantial component of the overall economic, physical and psychological burden of the disease. As the efforts in treating diabetes are geared towards reducing the likelihood of complications, understanding the welfare benefits and future savings from reducing diabetes complications is paramount in determining the cost‐effectiveness of competing diabetes therapies. Aims: The thesis is divided into three essays aiming to (1) characterize changes in the health related quality of life of diabetes patients over time and assess the contributions of diabetes complications to these changes; (2) study the drivers of healthcare expenditure for people with diabetes in terms of both inpatient care and non‐inpatient resource utilization, and estimate the impacts of diabetes‐related complications on health care costs; (3) understand the role played by self‐reported quality of life in predicting mortality after controlling for clinical risk factors. Methods: This thesis uses longitudinal data to answer the questions of interest. A unifying theme across the thesis is the challenge of estimating causal parameters in a context in which there may be substantial observed and unobserved patient heterogeneity. Findings: Failing to account for patient heterogeneity, and in particular un‐measurable variation in patients’ outcomes, is likely to bias the impact of complications on quality of life and on non‐inpatient costs, as well as to confound predicted time to death. In the case of QoL, ignoring heterogeneity is likely to overestimate the impact of complications on self reported utility because the patients who will eventually experience diabetes‐related complications are already on a lower utility path compared to those who do not. In the case of both inpatient and non‐inpatient costs, patients who go on to develop complications have higher cost both pre and post complications. In the case of inpatient costs there is no evidence that unobserved patient heterogeneity matters, while in the case of non‐inpatient utilization the hypothesis of a common baseline level of utilization is rejected in the subset of patients that contribute to the FE identification. This subset however is systematically different from the sample as a whole, being predominately more likely to have complications and other causes of hospitalization. Moreover, a trade‐off occurs when we are interested in predictions; models that exploit within‐patient variation have wider confidence intervals and have thus less precision than population average models. The final substantive chapter finds that HRQoL is significantly associated with survival at the population level and that when patient specific unobserved heterogeneity is taken into account, the power of QoL to predict life expectancy increases. Neglected heterogeneity in frailty causes underestimation of both the extent of positive duration dependence and the impacts of time varying covariates.

The early onset of externalizing behaviour problems (EBP) is associated with negative outcomes later in life, such as poor mental health, substance use, crime, and unemployment. Some children also develop conduct disorder (CD), entailing a high disease and economic burden for both individuals and society. Most studies on the effectiveness and cost-effectiveness of parenting interventions targeting EBP among children have evaluated selective or indicated preventive interventions, or treatment strategies. Evidence on the effectiveness of universally delivered parenting programmes is controversial, partly due to methodological difficulties. The overall aim of this thesis was to 1) address the methodological challenges of evaluating universal parenting programmes, and to 2) employ different health economic methods to evaluate parenting interventions for EBP and CD in children. Study I indicated that offering low intensity levels of Triple P universally, with limited intervention attendance, does not result in improved outcomes, and may not be a worthwhile use of public resources. Study II showed that using the distribution of an outcome variable makes it possible to estimate the impact of public health interventions at the population level. Study III supports offering bibliotherapy to initially target CP in children, whereas Comet could be offered to achieve greater effects based on decision-makers’ willingness to make larger investments. Cope could be offered when targeting symptom improvement, rather than clinical caseness. The economic decision model in Study IV demonstrated that Triple P for the treatment of CD appears to represent good value for money, when delivered in a Group format, but less likely, when delivered in an Individual format. To reduce the burden of mental health problems in childhood, cost-effective and evidence-based interventions should be provided on a continuum from prevention through early intervention to treatment. We believe our results can assist decision-makers in resource allocation to this field.

This dissertation examines the health insurance status of young adults during the transition to adulthood. In a series of three essays, I analyze what happens as young adults reach important milestones and the effects of public policies. The first essay is a descriptive study on how insurance status changes after reaching age 19 and graduating from college. The likelihood of becoming uninsured rises sharply once turning age 19 and then peaks at age 23. While the proportion uninsured also increases following college graduation, this increase disappears after one year. The second essay analyzes the effect of a dependent age law in New Jersey, which allowed dependent coverage for young adults up to age 30 and did not require full-time student status. Pennsylvania did not pass a law and was used as a control state. Among 19-to-22-year olds, there was a rise in health insurance coverage in New Jersey relative to Pennsylvania. There also was a negative effect on college enrollment in New Jersey relative to Pennsylvania. The final essay considers other unintended consequences of dependent age laws. Using a national dataset, I estimate that there were no clear effects on decisions related to living arrangements, marriage, and full-time employment.

This paper analyzes the impacts of the Malawi Social Cash Transfer Scheme. The goal of this paper is to help improve the design of cash transfers. First of all, I analyze whether the cash transfer positively affects child health variables despite occurring in a region with poor supply side health institutions. I find significant results for many child level variables, such as frequency of illnesses, but insignificant improvements in anthropometric measurements. Secondly, I examine whether female-headed households invest more in child health than male-headed households. The results show that the impacts of the cash transfer did not depend on the sex of the household head. This result provides some evidence that females do not always have systematically different preferences for expenditure on children than males. The paper uses the imperfect randomization of the cash transfer in combination with difference-in-differences regressions, propensity score matching, and Lee Bounds tests in order to ensure the robustness of the results.

En dépit des objectifs énoncés de respect du principe d'équité horizontale, on observe des inégalités sociales dans la consommation de soins des pays dotés de systèmes de santé socialisés.Cette thèse se propose, au travers de quatre études, de contribuer à l’analyse des politiques publiques dans le système de santé, du point de vue de l’équité de recours aux services de santé. L’introduction propose des éléments descriptifs des inégalités sociales de recours aux soins en France ainsi que des principaux mécanismes qui, à l’intérieur du système de santé français, peuvent en être à l’origine.Le premier chapitre étudie les liens entre barrières financières à l’accès aux soins et état de santé. Il montre que le fait de renoncer à des soins pour des raisons financières est associé à un état de santé futur plus détérioré.Le deuxième chapitre propose une analyse de l’interaction médecin-patient et de son rôle dans la formation des inégalités de recours aux soins. Nous étudions les catégorisations opérées par les médecins au sujet de leurs patients en fonction de leurs situations sociales. Nous montrons ensuite les relations entre ces catégorisations et les pratiques observées.Un troisième chapitre collige deux études portant sur la réforme du médecin traitant. La première propose une analyse de la réforme et de son contexte, en particulier le rôle des différents acteurs. La seconde propose une étude des conséquences de la réforme sur l’accès financier aux soins de spécialistes / Although horizontal equity is considered a universal guiding principle in socialized health systems, most of the countries where such systems are implemented show social inequalities in health care services consumption.This thesis brings together four studies. It aims at contributing to the analyses of health system reforms regarding equity in access to health care services.The introduction provides a description of social inequalities in health care services consumption in France as well as of the main mechanisms which, inside the French health system, can give rise to these inequalities.In the first chapter we study the links between financial barriers in accessing healthcare and health status. We show that unmet needs for financial reasons are associated with worse future health status.The second chapter proposes an analysis of the doctor-patient interaction and how it can affects inequalities in health care consumption. We first study the categorizations operated by the doctors about their patients according to the patients’ socioeconomic status. We then study how these categorizations interact with observed practices patterns.The third chapter brings together two analyses of the “preferred doctor reform”. A first study analyses the reform and its context, with a focus on the role of the stakeholders. A second study investigates the consequences of the reform on financial access to specialist care.

Este estudo objetiva analisar a influência de fatores socioeconômicos sobre o padrão de consumo alimentar infanto-juvenil, sua evolução na primeira década dos anos 2000 e sua relação com o estado nutricional. Para tanto, foram estimados três modelos: um modelo que identifica a aquisição individual de calorias, por meio da aquisição agregada domiciliar, seguido por um modelo que relaciona o Índice de Massa Corpórea e o consumo calórico, e por fim, um sistema de demanda por calorias. A identificação dos efeitos da aquisição calórica sobre estado nutricional, conjuntamente com as estimativas de um sistema de demanda, contribuiu para a obtenção do grau de sensibilidade do estado nutricional (representado pelo IMC) em relação aos preços e dispêndio com alimentos. Uma vez que, para todas as categorias analisadas, a quantidade demandada é diretamente proporcional ao dispêndio total com alimentação, a elasticidade-dispêndio do IMC também é positiva. Isso ajuda a explicar como o aumento no poder aquisitivo dos brasileiros influencia na tendência de queda nas taxas de subnutrição e a incidência de sobrepeso dos jovens brasileiros. Quanto aos preços, as elasticidades em relação ao IMC podem sinalizar como taxações e/ou subsídios podem melhorar o estado nutricional da população. A estimação de um sistema mais completo, com inclusão de alimentos saudáveis e prejudiciais à saúde, permitiu visualizar os efeitos de cada medida sobre diversas categorias alimentares, dependendo da forma como se relacionam. Constatou-se que, apesar de pouco eficaz, uma política combinada de impostos e subsídios pode contribuir para uma alimentação mais equilibrada. Além disso, a inclusão de uma variável que expresse a avaliação do tipo de alimento adquirido no domicílio foi importante para mostrar a avaliação quanto aos hábitos alimentares praticados. Com essa variável, mostra-se que não há uma conscientização do tipo de alimento adquirido no domicílio em relação aos impactos sobre a saúde dos jovens, uma vez que em domicílios com avaliação alimentar satisfatória, há uma tendência de consumo de alimentos pouco saudáveis. Por exemplo, em domicílios pobres que alegaram consumir sempre os alimentos desejados, a quantidade demandada de refrigerantes é 44% maior, do que naqueles que nem sempre consomem alimentos preferidos. Nesse sentido, medidas de conscientização são necessárias para reduzir a importância dada a esse tipo de alimento. Também foram estimados a importância da participação no Programa Bolsa Família (PBF) para o estado nutricional e demanda alimentar, uma vez que esse programa tem como objetivo a promoção da segurança alimentar de seus beneficiários, O impacto direto do programa sobre o IMC infanto-juvenil é negativo e equivalente a 0,28 kg/m², sendo mais efetivo em reduzir o IMC médio de indivíduos que estão em situação de excesso de peso. Esse efeito foi obtido ao controlar pelo consumo calórico, refletindo o efeito das condicionalidades referentes aos cuidados com a saúde e à preocupação dos responsáveis pelas crianças e adolescentes com as melhorias de suas condições de vida, o que fazem participar do programa. Quanto ao impacto sobre a quantidade demandada por categorias específicas, ressalta-se sua importância para aquisição de itens com leite e hortaliças, que são importantes para essa fase da vida e, mesmo assim, a participação na dieta está que estão abaixo das recomendações para uma vida saudável. No entanto, a preferência por doces também é observada, uma vez que o benefício monetário extra dado pelo PBF também contribui positivamente para seu consumo. Assim, não se pode afirmar que o benefício contribua para uma dieta adequada, visto que este tipo de alimento ultrapassa os níveis de consumo recomendados. De fato, constata-se que políticas de transferência de renda são pouco efetivas, pois o montante recebido pode ser direcionado para itens de consumo prejudiciais à saúde. / This study aims to analyze the influence of socioeconomic factors on the pattern of young\'s food consumption trends in the first decade of the 2000s and its relation to nutritional status. Therefore, it was estimated three models: a model that identifies the individual purchase of calories through the household aggregate purchase, followed by a model that relates the Body Mass Index and calorie consumption, and finally, a food demand system. The identification of the effects of caloric purchase of nutritional status, together with estimates of a demand system, contributed to obtain the degree of sensitivity of the nutritional status (represented by BMI) in relation to prices and expenditure on food. Since, for all categories examined, the quantity demanded is directly proportional to the total expenditure on food, BMI sensitivity to this variable is also positive. This explains how the increase in the purchasing power of Brazilian influences the decreasing trend in malnutrition rates and the incidence of overweight of young. The price elasticities in relation to BMI show how taxation and / or subsidies may improve nutritional status. The estimation of a more complete system, with the inclusion of healthy and unhealthy foods, allowed see the effects of various food categories, depending on how they are related. It was found that although very effective on BMI, a combined tax policy and subsidies can contribute to a more balanced diet. Moreover, the inclusion of a variable that expresses the evaluation of the type of food purchased in the household was important to show awareness regarding eating habits practiced. This variable showed that in households with satisfactory evaluation, there is a trend of consumption of unhealthy foods. For example, in poor households who always consume the desired food, the quantity demanded of soft drinks is 44% higher than those who do not always eat favorite foods. In this sense, awareness policies are needed to reduce the importance given to this type of food. It was also estimated the importance of participation in the Bolsa Família Program (PBF) for the nutritional status and food demand, since this program aims to promote food security. The direct impact of the program on children and teenagers BMI is negative and equal to 0.28 kg / m², and more effective in reducing the average BMI of individuals who are overweight situation. This effect was obtained by controlling the calorie intake, reflecting the effect of conditionality related to health care and the concern of those responsible for children and adolescents with the improvement of their life conditions. About the impact on the quantity demanded by specific categories, it emphasizes its importance for purchasing items with milk and vegetables, which are important for this stage of life. However, the preference for sweet foods is also observed since the extra monetary benefit given by the PBF also positively contributes to their consumption. Thus, we cannot affirm that the benefit contributes to an adequate diet, as this type of food exceeds the recommended consumption levels. In fact, we find that income transfer policies are ineffective because the amount received can be directed to the unhealthy consumption items.

Thesis advisor: Julie Mortimer / Essays on the effects of health policy payment systems in long-term care and end-of-life care institutions are studied. In the arena of long-term care, state Medicaid agencies have recently implemented pay-for-performance (P4P) programs to address poor quality of care in nursing homes. Using facility-quarter level data from 2003 to 2010, we evaluate the effects of Medicaid nursing home P4P programs on clinical quality measures, relying on variation in the timing of P4P implementation across states. Further, we exploit variation in the structure of states' programs to investigate whether programs that reward certain dimensions of quality are associated with larger improvements. We find P4P decreases the incidence of adverse clinical outcomes by as much as 8%, and the improvements are concentrated among the measures that experienced an increase in their relative returns and share strong commonalities in production. In the Hospice industry, changes to the current reimbursement system are mandated by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The motivation stems from noticeable hospice utilization changes since the Medicare Hospice Benefit (MHB) introduced a per-diem reimbursement in 1983. This research analyzes the abilities of a multi-tiered payment system, and a simpler two-part pricing system, to accurately match Medicare payments with hospice patient costs. Both systems improve on the current payment mechanism, while two-part pricing is the only system to maintain access to care for all MHB eligible patients. In addition, consumer disutility incurred by driving to airports is estimated and used to define air travel markets. Though an accurate definition of an economic market is important for any study of industry, there is no rule governing what exactly constitutes a market. To define a market we must ask the question ``between which products do consumers substitute,'' knowing that the answer to this question will depend on how ``close'' products are to one another in product space, as well as how close they are to one another, and to consumers, in geographic space. We estimate a discrete choice model of air travel demand that uses known information about the locations of products and consumers, which allows us to study substitution patterns among air travel products at different airports. We evaluate the commonly used city-pair and airport-pair definitions of a market for air travel, and conclude that a city-pair is the appropriate definition. We also employ the Hypothetical Monopolist test for antitrust market definition, as defined by the Department of Justice and Federal Trade Commission, and conclude that the relevant geographic market for antitrust analysis is frequently more narrowly defined as an airport-pair. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2013. / Submitted to: Boston College. Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Economics.