Congress uses varying degrees of specificity when passing legislation. Sometimes it writes very detailed, exacting laws; other times it leaves these details to implementing agencies. A natural positive question then arises: what factors are critical for understanding the degree of delegation...

Longevity risk transfer via the capital markets is now a reality. Pension plans and annuity providers can hedge longevity risk with capital markets instruments, reflecting the emergence of a new market that is poised to take off. The key players in this market are hedgers (pension plans and...

type="main" xml:id="rssa12005-abs-0001" <title type="main">Summary</title> <p>The aim of the paper is to compare the accuracy and effectiveness of liquid-based versus conventional cytology when used as part of a process of population screening to reduce the incidence of invasive cervical cancer. Data from split-sample...</p>

The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) invited the manufacturer of golimumab (Schering-Plough/Centocor) to submit evidence for the clinical and cost effectiveness of this drug for the treatment of active and progressive psoriatic arthritis (PsA) in patients who have...

Missing data are a frequent problem in cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) within a randomised controlled trial. Inappropriate methods to handle missing data can lead to misleading results and ultimately can affect the decision of whether an intervention is good value for money. This article...

The World Health Organization has recently received the findings of its Commission on the Social Determinants of Health. The Commission's report offers a remarkable summary of the evidence, and makes a passionate case for government action to address the social determinants of health, especially...

Stroke is a major cause of mortality and morbidity, but the reasons for differences in costs of care within and between countries are not well understood. The HealthBASKET project used a vignette methodology to compare the mean costs and prices of hospital care across providers in nine European...

The National Health Service (NHS) in England is introducing a national cost-per-case tariff system for the reimbursement of hospital services. Unlike most other countries with similar payment mechanisms, hospitals in England will have few alternative sources of income once the tariff system is...