On Competition and Regulation in Health Care Systems

Health care systems are under reform in many countries. This typically involves a shift towards more competition. But still, markets are highly regulated. This study analyzes competition and regulatory measures in four important fields using the modern tools of microeconomic theory and microeconometrics. The book demonstrates how price regulation interacts with the quality of care and shows that non-price competition amongst providers affects the social desirability of a gatekeeping system. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, the conventional wisdom of risk selection by German sickness funds is challenged.

Autorentext

The Author: Robert Nuscheler, born in Berlin in 1969, studied from 1991 to 1998 Economics and Mathematics at the Freie Universität Berlin and the University of Limerick. From 1998 to 2001 he was a research fellow at the Institute of Public Finance and Social Policy (FU Berlin). In 2001 he joined the Social Science Research Center Berlin (WZB), where he works as a research fellow in the unit Market Processes and Governance.

Inhalt

Contents : Monopoly Pricing in the Market for Vaccines - Price Regulation, Physician Density and the Quality of Care - Gatekeeping and Secondary Care Competition - Sickness Fund Competition in the German Public Health Insurance System: Evidence for Risk Selection?