Health policy in times of austerity — a conceptual framework for evaluating effects of policy on efficiency and equity illustrated with examples from Europe since 2008

Wenzl, Martin, Naci, Huseyin and Mossialos, Elias ORCID: 0000-0001-8664-9297 (2017) Health policy in times of austerity — a conceptual framework for evaluating effects of policy on efficiency and equity illustrated with examples from Europe since 2008. Health Policy, 121 (9). pp. 947-954. ISSN 0168-8510

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Abstract

The objective of this paper is to provide a framework for evaluation of changes in health policy against overarching health system goals. We propose a categorisation of policies into seven distinct health system domains. We then develop existing analytical concepts of insurance coverage and cost-effectiveness further to evaluate the effects of policies in each domain on equity and efficiency. The framework is illustrated with likely effects of policy changes implemented in a sample of European countries since 2008. Our illustrative analysis suggests that cost containment has been the main focus and that countries have implemented a mix of measures that are efficient or efficiency neutral. Similarly, policies are likely to have mixed effects on equity. Additional user charges were a common theme but these were frequently accompanied by additional exemptions, making their likely effects on equity difficult to evaluate. We provide a framework for future, and more detailed, evaluations of changes in health policy.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://www.healthpolicyjrnl.com/
Additional Information:	© 2017 The Authors © CC BY-NC-ND
Divisions:	LSE Health
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine
Date Deposited:	27 Jul 2017 09:25
Last Modified:	16 Apr 2024 00:06
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/83663

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