The red herring hypothesis contends that the high health care expenditure in old age is caused by proximity to death rather than calendar age. Dissenters point to longitudinal data and claim that health care expenditure age profiles tend to steepen over time. The present paper tests the...

Deutschland leistet sich ein im internationalen Vergleich hohes Angebot an medizinischer Versorgung. Im Krankenhausbereich weist Deutschland eine um mehr als 50% höhere Bettendichte auf als die OECD-Länder im Durchschnitt. In der OECD ist in den vergangenen 10 Jahren ein massiver Bettenabbau...

The red herring hypothesis contends that the high health care expenditure in old age is caused by proximity to death rather than calendar age. Dissenters point to longitudinal data and claim that health care expenditure age profiles tend to steepen over time. The present paper tests the...

Deutschland leistet sich ein im internationalen Vergleich hohes Angebot an medizinischer Versorgung. Im Krankenhausbereich weist Deutschland eine um mehr als 50% höhere Bettendichte auf als die OECD-Länder im Durchschnitt. In der OECD ist in den vergangenen 10 Jahren ein massiver Bettenabbau...

We estimate the marginal cost of life using age- and gender-specific health care expenditures and mortality rates of the 26 Swiss cantons for the period 1997 to 2006. We show triple the marginal cost of saving a life for women as compared to men, reflecting a lower marginal elasticity of medical...

A certain German sickness fund offers €240 per year to its clients if they pay the first €300 of their health care bills, except for physician visits, for which a flat rate of €20 applies. This paper studies the effects of this deductible scheme on health care demand by comparing about...

We estimate the marginal cost of life using age- and gender-specific health care expenditures and mortality rates of the 26 Swiss cantons for the period 1997 to 2006. We show triple the marginal cost of saving a life for women as compared to men, reflecting a lower marginal elasticity of medical...

Buchner and Wasem (2006) claimed that the health care expenditure (HCE) of the old grows faster than that of the young, resulting in a steepening of the age profile of HCE over time. This paper tests the steepening claim for Swiss health insurance, covering the time period 1997–2006 and the 26...