This thesis describes the status quo of the Taiwanese health care system in the year 2000, 5 years after the reforms, analyses the economic efficiency of single components of the new health care system and searches for possible solutions to solve uncovered problems. For a better understanding of...

In times of ever-rising health expenditures it is becoming more and more obvious that conventional models for funding health care are increasingly experiencing difficulties in meeting up this challenge. The concept of Medical Savings Accounts (MSAs) represents an innovative and so far rarely...

Das Konzept der Medical Savings Accounts als Instrument zur Finanzierung von Gesundheitssystemen hat in den letzten Jahren international Aufmerksamkeit erregt. In Deutschland wurde ein ähnliches Konzept für die Gesetzliche Rentenversicherung im Rahmen der Riester Rente diskutiert. Länder wie...

Krankenversicherungssysteme induzieren häufig Wohlfahrtsverluste aufgrund asymetrischer Informationen. Neben einem Anstieg der Gesundheitsausgaben bewirken diese eine ineffiziente Allokation von Ressourcen. Einige empirische Studien schätzen den Wohlfahrtsverlust sogar so gross, dass er den...

In response to increasing health expenditures and a high number of physician visits, the German government introduced a copayment for ambulatory care in 2004 for individuals with statutory health insurance (SHI). Because persons with private insurance were exempt from the copayments, this health...

Hospitals account for 40 % of all healthcare expenditures and play a central role in healthcare provision. Therefore, the way hospitals are payed has major implications for the care they provide. Yet the knowledge about system wide effects of payment reforms is surprisingly thin. This study...