Free to Choose? Reform and Demand Response in the English National Health Service

Marty Gaynor, Carol Propper, Stephan Seiler, 9 December 2012

The impacts of choice in public services are controversial. This paper exploits a reform in the English National Health Service to assess the impact of relaxing constraints on patient choice. The results suggest that greater choice can enhance quality.

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URL: www.cepr.org/pubs/dps/DP9250.asp
Topics: Health economics
Tags: demand estimation, Healthcare reform, patient choice

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Healthcare reform: Difficult but not impossible

Benedict Clements, David Coady, Sanjeev Gupta, 24 June 2012

It is a daunting reality for many advanced economies that even if they manage to cut public spending today, they will continue to have huge liabilities as their populations age. This column argues that healthcare reform, no matter how politically unpalatable, will have to be a part of countries’ financial adjustment plans.

With public debt ratios soaring to levels unprecedented since the Second World War, fiscal adjustments are already underway and more will need to be done in many advanced economies (Buti and Pench 2012, Cottarelli 2012).

Topics: Health economics
Tags: Ageing population, Healthcare reform