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Acceptable costs and risk adjustment: policy choices and ethical trade-offs

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  • Erik Schokkaert
  • Konstantin Beck
  • Amir Shmueli
  • Wynand Van De Ven
  • Carine Van De Voorde
  • Jürgen Wasem

Abstract

The main objective of risk adjustment in systems of regulated competition on health insurance markets is the removal of incentives for undesirable risk selection. We introduce a simple conceptual framework to clarify how the definition of "acceptable costs" and the distinction between legitimate and illegitimate risk adjusters imply difficult ethical trade-offs between equity, avoidance of undesirable risk selection and cost-effectiveness. Focusing on the situation in Belgium, Germany, Israel, the Netherlands and Switzerland, we show how differences in the importance attached to solidarity and in the beliefs about market efficiency, have led to different decisions with respect to the definition of the basic benefits package, the choice of risk-adjusters, the possibilities of managed care, the degree of consumer choice and the relative importance of income-related financing sources in the overall system.

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Bibliographic Info

Paper provided by Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Centrum voor Economische Studiën in its series Center for Economic Studies - Discussion papers with number ces0619.

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Date of creation: Mar 2006
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Handle: RePEc:ete:ceswps:ces0619

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References

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  1. Schokkaert, Erik & Van de Voorde, Carine, 2004. "Risk selection and the specification of the conventional risk adjustment formula," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(6), pages 1237-1259, November.
  2. Randall P. Ellis & Thomas G. McGuire, 1994. "Hospital Response to Prospective Payment: Moral Hazard, Selection, and Practice-Style Effects," Papers 0050, Boston University - Industry Studies Programme.
  3. Beck, Konstantin & Spycher, Stefan & Holly, Alberto & Gardiol, Lucien, 2003. "Risk adjustment in Switzerland," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 63-74, July.
  4. Gre[ss], Stefan & Focke, Axel & Hessel, Franz & Wasem, Jurgen, 2006. "Financial incentives for disease management programmes and integrated care in German social health insurance," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(2-3), pages 295-305, October.
  5. Thomas G. McGuire & Jacob Glazer, 2000. "Optimal Risk Adjustment in Markets with Adverse Selection: An Application to Managed Care," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(4), pages 1055-1071, September.
  6. Buchner, Florian & Wasem, Jurgen, 2003. "Needs for further improvement: risk adjustment in the German health insurance system," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 21-35, July.
  7. van de Ven, Wynand P. M. M. & Beck, Konstantin & Buchner, Florian & Chernichovsky, Dov & Gardiol, Lucien & Holly, Alberto & Lamers, Leida M. & Schokkaert, Erik & Shmueli, Amir & Spycher, Stephan & Van, 2003. "Risk adjustment and risk selection on the sickness fund insurance market in five European countries," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 75-98, July.
  8. Van de ven, Wynand P.M.M. & Ellis, Randall P., 2000. "Risk adjustment in competitive health plan markets," Handbook of Health Economics, in: A. J. Culyer & J. P. Newhouse (ed.), Handbook of Health Economics, edition 1, volume 1, chapter 14, pages 755-845 Elsevier.
  9. Schokkaert, Erik & Van de Voorde, Carine, 2003. "Belgium: risk adjustment and financial responsibility in a centralised system," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 65(1), pages 5-19, July.
  10. Erik Schokkaert & Geert Dhaene & Carine Van De Voorde, 1998. "Risk adjustment and the trade-off between efficiency and risk selection: an application of the theory of fair compensation," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 7(5), pages 465-480.
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Cited by:
  1. Asthana, Sheena & Gibson, Alex, 2011. "Setting health care capitations through diagnosis-based risk adjustment: A suitable model for the English NHS?," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 101(2), pages 133-139, July.

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