Cylus, Jonathan 
ORCID: 0000-0001-8269-1578, Mladovsky, Philipa ORCID: 0000-0001-7761-6928 and McKee, Martin
(2012)
Is there a statistical relationship between economic crises and changes in government health expenditure growth?: an analysis of twenty-four European countries.
Health Services Research, 47 (6).
pp. 2204-2224.
ISSN 0017-9124
Abstract
Objective: To identify whether, by what means, and the extent to which historically, government health care expenditure growth in Europe has changed following economic crises. Data Sources: Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development Health Data 2011. Study Design: Cross-country fixed effects multiple regression analysis is used to determine whether statutory health care expenditure growth in the year after economic crises differs from that which would otherwise be predicted by general economic trends. Better understanding of the mechanisms involved is achieved by distinguishing between policy responses which lead to cost-shifting and all others. Findings: In the year after an economic downturn, public health care expenditure grows more slowly than would have been expected given the longer term economic climate. Cost-shifting and other policy responses are both associated with these slowdowns. However, while changes in tax-derived expenditure are associated with both cost-shifting and other policy responses following a crisis, changes in expenditure derived from social insurance have been associated only with changes in cost-shifting. Conclusions: Disproportionate cuts to the health sector, as well as reliance on cost-shifting to slow growth in health care expenditure, serve as a warning in terms of potentially negative effects on equity, efficiency, and quality of health services and, potentially, health outcomes following economic crises.
| Item Type: | Article |
|---|---|
| Official URL: | http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10.1111/(IS... |
| Additional Information: | © 2012 Health Research and Educational Trust |
| Divisions: | LSE Health Lifecourse, Ageing & Population Health |
| Subjects: | H Social Sciences > HA Statistics H Social Sciences > HC Economic History and Conditions H Social Sciences > HJ Public Finance R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine |
| Date Deposited: | 20 Jun 2012 12:30 |
| Last Modified: | 12 Dec 2024 00:08 |
| URI: | http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/44424 |
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