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October
Almost Home: Reforming Home and Community Care in Ontario
Authors: Patricia Baranek, Raisa Deber, A. Paul Williams
ISBN: 0-8020-8965-8 $65.00 - Cloth
ISBN: 0-8020-8639-X $29.95 - Paper
Publisher: University of Toronto Press
Almost Home deals with the shift of care from the Medicare 'mainstream' of physician and hospital care, to home and community. It notes that this shift is not only a change in the site of care but also a change in the applicable rules. Care in the community is no longer bound by the rules and conditions of the Canada Health Act.
The policy questions discussed in Almost Home reflect the change that is reshaping Canadian health care policy and politics. Using document analysis, interviews with government officials, and other key stakeholders in the policy community, the authors analyze the policy content and process of five different attempts to reform home and community care in Ontario between 1985 and 1996, as introduced by Liberal, New Democratic, and Conservative governments.
October
Activity Base Funding for Hospitals: English Policy, International Experience
Editors: J Sussex, A Street
ISBN: 1 899040 08 0
Published: October 2004
The NHS in England is following the US, Australia and many countries in Europe in introducing a system of paying hospitals and other providers on the basis of the work they do. Providers receive a fixed payment -- the national tariff -- for each type of patient treated. Termed "payment by results" by the English Department of Health, the policy rewards providers for volumes of work adjusted for differences in case mix. This book draws lessons from international experience and research and is based on the presentations and discussions at a conference organised by the Office of Health Economics and the University of York Centre for Health Economics and held at The Commonwealth Club, London, on 31st March 2004.
To order contact Liz Aulsford (44-207-930-9203) or visit the OHE Web Site
Price: GBP £12.50
State Health Insurance Market Reform: Toward Inclusive andSustainable Health Insurance Markets
Editors: Alan C. Monheit and Joel C. Cantor
ISBN: 0-415-70035-3
Publisher: Routledge International Studies in Health Economics
Availability: October 2004
Description: Since the late 1980s, many US states have sought to incrementally reform their health insurance markets. The intent of such reform has been quite straightforward: to ensure access to affordable health insurance by addressing insurer practices perceived to be exclusionary. In the light of this, a compelling public policy issue is whether these efforts to address disparities in the population's access to health insurance have been successful or yielded unintended consequences.
This volume provides a critical assessment of the current state of knowledge on insurance market reform that is accessible to both policymakers and researchers. The contributions provide a critical evaluation of empirical research findings, applied methodologies, and policy implications associated with state reform of small-group and individual insurance markets.
With contributions from internationally respected health economists, as well as industry, regulatory, and consumer representatives, this book will prove to be a useful read for all those with an interest in the economics of health care.
More information on the book may be obtained at Routledge
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction: Alan C. Monheit and Joel C. Cantor
PART I. Critical Evaluation of Research Findings
2. What Have We Learned from Research on Small-Group Market Reform? Kosali Ilayperuma Simon
3. What Have We Learned from Research on Individual Market Reform? Deborah Chollet
PART II. Responses to Findings on Insurance Market Reform
4. What Can We Learn from the Research on Insurance Market Reform? Thomas C. Buchmueller
5. A Critical Assessment of Research on Insurance Market Reform: Barbara
Steinberg Schone
PART III. Perspectives from the Field: How Can Access to Affordable Coverage
be Sustained?
6. An Insurance Executive Reflects on Insurance Market Reform: Sanford B.
Herman
7. An Insurance Commissioner Reflects on Insurance Market Reform: Steven B.
Larsen
8. Can Access to Affordable Health Insurance be Sustained? Karen Pollitz
PART IV. Reforming Insurance Market Reform: What are the Possibilities? What
are the Alternatives?
9. How Can Reform Work Better? M. Susan Marquis
10. Improving State Insurance Market Reform: What's Left to Try? Len M.
Nichols
11. Insurance Market Reform: When, How, Why? Katherine Swartz
12. Conclusions: Alan. C. Monheit and Joel C. Cantor
Using Cost-Effectiveness Analysis to Improve Health Care: Peter J. Neumann
Author: Peter J. Neumann
ISBN: 0195171861
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Discounted Price: $26.25
Oct 2004, Hardback
Oxford University Press is proud to present: Using Cost-Effectiveness Analysis to Improve Health Care Opportunities and Barriers by Peter J. Neumann, Associate Professor of Policy and Decision Science in the Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard School of Public Health.
As health costs in the U.S. soar past $1.5 trillion, it is widely agreed that we could do better by using cost-effective analysis (CEA) to help determine which health care services are most worthwhile. American policy makers, however, have largely avoided using CEA, and researchers have devoted little attention to understanding why this is so. By considering the economic, social, legal, and ethical factors that contribute to the situation, and how they can be negotiated in the future, this book offers a unique perspective. It traces the roots of CEA in health and medicine, describes its promise for rational resource allocation, and discusses the nature of the opposition to it, using Medicare and the Oregon health plans as examples.
The book seeks to find common ground and practical solutions analyzing the prospects for change and presents a roadmap for getting there. It offers pragmatic advice for cost-effectiveness analysts, and also offers advice for policy makers and politicians, including lessons from Europe, Canada, and Australia, and underlines the need for leadership to establish the conditions for change. Order by phone 1-800-451-7556 or http://www.oup.com/us/
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