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Analysing equity in health care financing: A flow of funds approach

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  • Smith, Samantha
  • Normand, Charles

Abstract

There are concerns that existing methods for analysing equity in Irish health care financing, based on progressivity index measures, are not adequately capturing patterns of inequity that occur in practice. This paper follows a new direction in the literature whereby equity in health care financing and delivery are analysed together. A flow of funds for Irish health care resources is developed and applied to data for 2004. The framework traces the flow of public and private health resources from individuals to financial intermediaries, from there to health care providers and functions, and from there to individuals. Individuals are categorised by health care entitlement status. Findings indicate that broad progressive patterns in aggregate resource flows hide less equitable patterns that require further attention and there are complex interactions between public and private resources. The flow of funds approach complements existing analytic methods and generates policy lessons for Irish and international policy makers.

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  • Smith, Samantha & Normand, Charles, 2009. "Analysing equity in health care financing: A flow of funds approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 69(3), pages 379-386, August.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:69:y:2009:i:3:p:379-386
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    5. Gabriel M. Leung & Keith Y. K. Tin & Owen O'Donnell, 2009. "Redistribution or horizontal equity in Hong Kong's mixed public–private health system: a policy conundrum," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 18(1), pages 37-54, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Richard Layte & Anne Nolan, 2015. "Eligibility for free GP care and the utilisation of GP services by children in Ireland," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 15(1), pages 3-27, March.
    2. Conor Keegan & Conor Teljeur & Brian Turner & Steve Thomas, 2017. "Addressing Market Segmentation and Incentives for Risk Selection: How Well Does Risk Equalisation in the Irish Private Health Insurance Market Work?," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 48(1), pages 61-84.
    3. Aoife Brick & Anne Nolan & Jacqueline O’Reilly & Samantha Smith, 2012. "Conflicting Financial Incentives in the Irish Health-Care System," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 43(2), pages 273-301.
    4. Conor Keegan & Samantha Smith, 2013. "The Length of Stay of In-Patient Stroke Discharges in Irish Acute Hospitals," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 44(3), pages 351-370.
    5. Samantha Smith, 2010. "The Irish ‘health basket’: a basket case?," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 11(3), pages 343-350, June.
    6. Smith, Samantha & Walsh, Brendan & Wren, Maev-Ann & Barron, Steve & Morgenroth, Edgar & Eighan, James & Lyons, Seán, 2019. "Geographic profile of healthcare needs and non-acute healthcare supply in Ireland," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS90, June.
    7. Selin ERTÜRK ATABEY & Metin MERİÇ, 2016. "Sağlık Harcamaları ve Evrensel Kapsama Açısından Türk ve Alman Sağlık Sistemlerinin Karşılaştırmalı İncelenmesi," Sosyoekonomi Journal, Sosyoekonomi Society, issue 24(29).

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