IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v119y2014icp18-26.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Healthcare system and the wealth–health gradient: A comparative study of older populations in six countries

Author

Listed:
  • Maskileyson, Dina

Abstract

The present study provides a comparative analysis of the association between wealth and health in six healthcare systems (Sweden, the United Kingdom, Germany, the Czech Republic, Israel, the United States). National samples of individuals fifty years and over reveal considerable cross-country variations in health outcomes. In all six countries wealth and health are positively associated. The findings also show that state-based healthcare systems produce better population health outcomes than private-based healthcare systems. The results indicate that in five out of the six countries studied, the wealth–health gradients were remarkably similar, despite significant variations in healthcare system type. Only in the United States was the association between wealth and health substantially different from, and much greater than that in the other five countries. The findings suggest that private-based healthcare system in the U.S. is likely to promote stronger positive associations between wealth and health.

Suggested Citation

  • Maskileyson, Dina, 2014. "Healthcare system and the wealth–health gradient: A comparative study of older populations in six countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 119(C), pages 18-26.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:119:y:2014:i:c:p:18-26
    DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.08.013
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277953614005309
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.socscimed.2014.08.013?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. James Smith, 2005. "Consequences and Predictors of New Health Events," NBER Chapters, in: Analyses in the Economics of Aging, pages 213-240, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Chung, Haejoo & Muntaner, Carles, 2006. "Political and welfare state determinants of infant and child health indicators: An analysis of wealthy countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 63(3), pages 829-842, August.
    3. M. Hurd & A. Kapteyn, 2005. "Health, Wealth, and the Role of Institutions," Springer Books, in: Peter Gijsel & Hans Schenk (ed.), Multidisciplinary Economics, pages 307-332, Springer.
    4. Wilkinson, Richard G & Pickett, Kate E., 2006. "Income inequality and population health: A review and explanation of the evidence," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(7), pages 1768-1784, April.
    5. Chung, Haejoo & Muntaner, Carles, 2007. "Welfare state matters: A typological multilevel analysis of wealthy countries," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 80(2), pages 328-339, February.
    6. F. Thomas Juster & Richard Suzman, 1995. "An Overview of the Health and Retirement Study," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 30, pages 7-56.
    7. Burstrom, Bo & Whitehead, Margaret & Clayton, Stephen & Fritzell, Sara & Vannoni, Francesca & Costa, Giuseppe, 2010. "Health inequalities between lone and couple mothers and policy under different welfare regimes - The example of Italy, Sweden and Britain," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(6), pages 912-920, March.
    8. Huisman, Martijn & Kunst, Anton E. & Mackenbach, Johan P., 2003. "Socioeconomic inequalities in morbidity among the elderly; a European overview," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 57(5), pages 861-873, September.
    9. Michael Hurd & Arie Kapteyn, 2003. "Health, Wealth, and the Role of Institutions," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 38(2).
    10. Angus Deaton, 2008. "Income, Health, and Well-Being around the World: Evidence from the Gallup World Poll," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 22(2), pages 53-72, Spring.
    11. Kawachi, I. & Kennedy, B.P. & Lochner, K. & Prothrow-Stith, D., 1997. "Social capital, income inequality, and mortality," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 87(9), pages 1491-1498.
    12. Eikemo, Terje Andreas & Bambra, Clare & Judge, Ken & Ringdal, Kristen, 2008. "Welfare state regimes and differences in self-perceived health in Europe: A multilevel analysis," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(11), pages 2281-2295, June.
    13. David A. Wise, 2005. "Analyses in the Economics of Aging," NBER Books, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc, number wise05-1, March.
    14. Avendano, M. & Glymour, M.M. & Banks, J. & Mackenbach, J.P., 2009. "Health disadvantage in US adults aged 50 to 74 years: A comparison of the health of rich and poor Americans with that of Europeans," American Journal of Public Health, American Public Health Association, vol. 99(3), pages 540-548.
    15. repec:dau:papers:123456789/10510 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Semyonov, Moshe & Lewin-Epstein, Noah & Maskileyson, Dina, 2013. "Where wealth matters more for health: The wealth–health gradient in 16 countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 10-17.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Gibson-Davis, Christina & Boen, Courtney E. & Keister, Lisa A. & Lowell, Warren, 2023. "Net worth poverty and adult health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 318(C).
    2. Kazak Jan & van Hoof Joost & Świąder Małgorzata & Szewrański Szymon, 2017. "Real Estate for the Ageing Society – the Perspective of a New Market," Real Estate Management and Valuation, Sciendo, vol. 25(4), pages 13-24, December.
    3. Yastrebov, Gordey & Maskileyson, Dina, 2022. "The effect of COVID-19 confinement and economic support measures on the mental health of older population in Europe and Israel," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 314(C).
    4. Carmichael, Donna, 2023. "Wealth accumulation and de‐risking strategies among high-wealth Individuals," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 118177, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    5. Patricia Gómez-Costilla & Carmen García-Prieto & Noelia Somarriba-Arechavala, 2022. "Aging and Gender Health Gap: A Multilevel Analysis for 17 European Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 1051-1069, April.
    6. Nora Müller & Klaus Pforr & Jascha Dräger, 2023. "Wealth Stratification and the Insurance Function of Wealth," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(1), pages 128-134.
    7. Donna Carmichael, 2023. "Wealth Accumulation and De‐Risking Strategies Among High‐Wealth Individuals," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 11(1), pages 200-209.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Semyonov, Moshe & Lewin-Epstein, Noah & Maskileyson, Dina, 2013. "Where wealth matters more for health: The wealth–health gradient in 16 countries," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 81(C), pages 10-17.
    2. Owen O'Donnell & Eddy Van Doorslaer & Tom Van Ourti, 2013. "Health and Inequality," Tinbergen Institute Discussion Papers 13-170/V, Tinbergen Institute.
    3. Michaud, Pierre-Carl & van Soest, Arthur, 2008. "Health and wealth of elderly couples: Causality tests using dynamic panel data models," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 1312-1325, September.
    4. Jonathan Gruber & Helen Levy, 2009. "The Evolution of Medical Spending Risk," Journal of Economic Perspectives, American Economic Association, vol. 23(4), pages 25-48, Fall.
    5. Patricia Gómez-Costilla & Carmen García-Prieto & Noelia Somarriba-Arechavala, 2022. "Aging and Gender Health Gap: A Multilevel Analysis for 17 European Countries," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 160(2), pages 1051-1069, April.
    6. Bender, Keith A. & Theodossiou, Ioannis, 2009. "Controlling for endogeneity in the health-socioeconomic status relationship of the near retired," Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), Elsevier, vol. 38(6), pages 977-987, December.
    7. Frijters, Paul & Ulker, Aydogan, 2008. "Robustness in health research: Do differences in health measures, techniques, and time frame matter?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 1626-1644, December.
    8. Irene Mosca & Rose Kenny, 2014. "Exploring differences in prevalence of diagnosed, measured and undiagnosed hypertension: the case of Ireland and the United States of America," International Journal of Public Health, Springer;Swiss School of Public Health (SSPH+), vol. 59(5), pages 759-767, October.
    9. Beckfield, Jason & Bambra, Clare, 2016. "Shorter lives in stingier states: Social policy shortcomings help explain the US mortality disadvantage," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 171(C), pages 30-38.
    10. Nelson, Kenneth & Fritzell, Johan, 2014. "Welfare states and population health: The role of minimum income benefits for mortality," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 112(C), pages 63-71.
    11. van Kippersluis, Hans & O'Donnell, Owen & van Doorslaer, Eddy & Van Ourti, Tom, 2010. "Socioeconomic differences in health over the life cycle in an Egalitarian country," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 70(3), pages 428-438, February.
    12. Abdul Karim, Syahirah & Eikemo, Terje A. & Bambra, Clare, 2010. "Welfare state regimes and population health: Integrating the East Asian welfare states," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 94(1), pages 45-53, January.
    13. Martinussen, Pål E. & Rydland, Håvard T., 2022. "(I can't get no) satisfaction: A comparative study of healthcare recommodification in Europe, 2010-18," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 305(C).
    14. Tammy Leonard & Amy E. Hughes & Sandi L. Pruitt, 2017. "Understanding How Low–Socioeconomic Status Households Cope with Health Shocks," The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, , vol. 669(1), pages 125-145, January.
    15. Rasmus Hoffmann & Hannes Kröger & Eduwin Pakpahan, 2018. "The reciprocal relationship between material factors and health in the life course: evidence from SHARE and ELSA," European Journal of Ageing, Springer, vol. 15(4), pages 379-391, December.
    16. Hoffmann, Rasmus, 2011. "Socioeconomic inequalities in old-age mortality: A comparison of Denmark and the USA," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 72(12), pages 1986-1992, June.
    17. Maheswaran, Hendramoorthy & Kupek, Emil & Petrou, Stavros, 2015. "Self-reported health and socio-economic inequalities in England, 1996–2009: Repeated national cross-sectional study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 136, pages 135-146.
    18. Hernández-Quevedo, Cristina & Jones, Andrew M. & Rice, Nigel, 2008. "Persistence in health limitations: A European comparative analysis," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(6), pages 1472-1488, December.
    19. Georg Kanitsar, 2022. "The Inequality-Trust Nexus Revisited: At What Level of Aggregation Does Income Inequality Matter for Social Trust?," Social Indicators Research: An International and Interdisciplinary Journal for Quality-of-Life Measurement, Springer, vol. 163(1), pages 171-195, August.
    20. James Smith, 2004. "Unravelling the SES health connection," IFS Working Papers W04/02, Institute for Fiscal Studies.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:119:y:2014:i:c:p:18-26. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.