This book provides key economic facts, explains the economic concepts needed to examine the implications of these facts, and summarizes the results of empirical studies regarding our healthcare system's access, cost, and quality problems as well as identifying six key trends that are reforming...

part Section I: Pressures for Change -- chapter 1 Access -- chapter 2 Cost -- chapter 3 Quality -- chapter Conclusion to Section I -- chapter Introduction -- chapter 4 Align Incentives via Payment System Design -- chapter 5 Managed Care Organizations, Accountable Care Organizations, and...

In this paper, we examine whether the expansion of health insurance coverage brought on by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA), led to a decline in absenteeism among overweight and obese individuals. We use data from the National Health Insurance Survey (NHIS) to compare...