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Kinds of Payments Terms modified by Payments Selected AbstractsTHE MIRACLE OF THE CELLS: AN EXPERIMENTAL STUDY OF INTERVENTIONS TO INCREASE PAYMENT OF COURT-ORDERED FINANCIAL OBLIGATIONS,CRIMINOLOGY AND PUBLIC POLICY, Issue 1 2008DAVID WEISBURD Research Summary: In this article, we present findings from an experimental study of an innovative program in fine enforcement developed by the Administrative Office of the Courts (AOC) of New Jersey, termed Project MUSTER (MUST Earn Restitution). The project was initiated by the New Jersey AOC as a response to concerns among probation personnel that probationers sentenced to monetary penalties often failed to meet their financial obligations. The program sought to increase payment of court-ordered financial obligations among probationers who are seriously delinquent in paying fines, penalties, and restitution, and was designed to "strengthen the effectiveness of restitution and fine sanctions by forcing those offenders who have the ability to make regular payments to do so." Project MUSTER relied on a combination of intensive probation, threats of violation to court and incarceration, and community service. We find that probationers sentenced to Project MUSTER were significantly more likely to pay court-ordered financial obligations than were those who experienced regular probation supervision. However, probationers sentenced to a second treatment group, in which the only intervention was violation of probation (one part of the MUSTER program), had similar outcomes to the MUSTER condition. These findings suggest that the main cause of fine payment was a deterrent threat of possible incarceration, which is often termed the "miracle of the cells." Policy Implications: Our study shows that it is possible to gain greater compliance with court-ordered financial obligations and that such compliance may be gained with a relatively simple and straightforward criminal justice intervention. Threats of violation of probation are an effective tool for gaining compliance with financial obligations. Given the growing interest in monetary penalties as an alternative to incarceration, these findings have particular policy importance. [source] A Comparison of Two Botulinum Type A Toxin Preparations for the Treatment of Glabellar Lines: Double-Blind, Randomized, Pilot StudyDERMATOLOGIC SURGERY, Issue 12 2005Philippa L. Lowe MB ChB Background. Botulinum toxins have been proven effective for reducing facial lines. There are two commercial types of botulinum toxin type A available in many countries but no published comparison studies. Objective. To compare the efficacy and tolerability of Botox Cosmetic and Dysport 50 U in the treatment of glabellar lines (using 20 U of Botox Cosmetic, which is the dose approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of glabellar lines, and 50 U of Dysport, which has been reported to be the optimal dose for this formulation). Study Design. Parallel-group double-blind pilot study. Evaluation by observing physician, photographic, and patient evaluations. Conclusion. Botox 20 U provided better and more prolonged efficacy than Dysport 50 U in the treatment of glabellar lines. NICHOLAS LOWE, MD, FRCP, AND RICKIE PATNAIK, MD, HAVE RECEIVED RESEARCH GRANTS FROM ALLERGAN INC. NICHOLAS LOWE OWNS STOCK IN ALLERGAN INC AND HAS RECEIVED CONSULTING PAYMENTS AND EDUCATIONAL GRANTS FROM ALLERGAN INC. THIS STUDY WAS FUNDED BY A GRANT FROM ALLERGAN INC. [source] UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES OF BARGAINING FOR ADOPTION ASSISTANCE PAYMENTSFAMILY COURT REVIEW, Issue 3 2005Hansen Mary Eschelbach Families that adopt children who are in foster care may receive monthly adoption assistance payments to offset the cost of raising the adopted child. The amount of the adoption assistance payment is the subject of bargaining between the family and the child welfare authority. This article uses a bargaining model to highlight factors that, in addition to the expected costs of raising the child, might influence the outcome of bargaining over adoption assistance payments. Findings indicate that married parents who adopt children already in their care have an advantage in bargaining, and single women who adopt their kin or foster children have a disadvantage in bargaining. [source] MICROECONOMIC FOUNDATION OF LENDER OF LAST RESORT FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF PAYMENTS*THE JAPANESE ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 2 2008YASUO MAEDA We construct a model to clarify the mechanism by which the lender of last resort (LLR) can prevent bank runs. In our model, a bank has both the function of facilitating payments in which inside money is settled using outside money and the function of financial intermediation using a deposit contract. The deposit contract might lead to a bank run, and might even contribute to an efficient allocation. Therefore, to consider the liquidity supply by the LLR, we introduce the deposit contract as a factor of instability in the banking model. We show that the LLR can assist in the recovery of both the efficiency and stability of the financial system. [source] DOES THE DEVELOPMENT OF NON-CASH PAYMENTS AFFECT BANK LENDING?THE MANCHESTER SCHOOL, Issue 5 2010SANTIAGO CARBÓ VALVERDE Previous studies show that the impact of an exogenous monetary policy shock on bank lending is different across bank sizes and across various levels of capitalization and liquidity. However, there is little evidence on the impact of other exogenous influences such as the shift from cash to non-cash payment instruments on bank lending. In this paper we explore the effects of the increasing use of non-cash payment instruments on bank lending in Spain during 1992,2000. The results show that banks appear to have taken advantage of the non-cash instruments to adjust their loan supply when interest rates increase. [source] THE OPTIMAL DIVISION OF GOVERNMENT EXPENDITURE BETWEEN PUBLIC GOODS AND TRANSFER PAYMENTSAUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC PAPERS, Issue 2 2010JOHN CREEDY This paper examines the optimal ratio of transfer payments to expenditure on public goods, for a given income tax rate. The transfer payment is then determined by the government's budget constraint. The optimal ratio of transfers to public good expenditure per person is expressed as a function of the ratio of the median to the arithmetic mean wage, and of the tax rate. Reductions in the skewness of the wage rate distribution are associated with reductions in transfer payments relative to public goods expenditure, at a decreasing rate. Furthermore, increases in the tax rate, from relatively low levels, are associated with increases in the relative importance of transfer payments. But beyond a certain level, further tax rate increases are associated with a lower ratio of transfers to public goods, because of adverse incentive effects. [source] Payment for Ecosystem Services and the Challenge of Saving NatureCONSERVATION BIOLOGY, Issue 4 2009Kent H. Redford No abstract is available for this article. [source] Glycaemic goals in patients with type 2 diabetes: current status, challenges and recent advancesDIABETES OBESITY & METABOLISM, Issue 6 2010K. Khunti Recommendations for the management of type 2 diabetes include rigorous control of blood glucose levels and other risk factors, such as hypertension and dyslipidaemia. In clinical practice, many patients do not reach goals for glycaemic control. Causes of failure to control blood glucose include progression of underlying pancreatic , -cell dysfunction, incomplete adherence to treatment (often because of adverse effects of weight gain and hypoglycaemia) and reluctance of clinicians to intensify therapy. There is increasing focus on strategies that offer potential to improve glycaemic control. Structured patient education has been shown to improve glycaemic control and other cardiovascular risk factors in people with type 2 diabetes. Payment of general practitioners by results has been shown to improve glycaemic control. New classes of glucose-lowering agents have expanded the treatment options available to clinicians and patients and include the dipeptidyl peptidase 4 (DPP-4) inhibitors and glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists. These new classes of therapy and other strategies outlined above could help clinicians to individualize treatment and help a greater proportion of patients to achieve long-term control of blood glucose. [source] The Choice Among Interbank Settlement Systems: The European ExperienceECONOMIC NOTES, Issue 1 2003Angelo Baglioni This paper addresses the choice of banks between alternative channels for interbank payments. The conventional view assumes a tradeoff between the safety of real-time gross settlement (RTGS) and the liquidity savings of multilateral netting. Moreover, correspondent banking is believed to be inefficient, both in terms of liquidity and of administrative costs. In the last decade, however, the impulse of the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems, technological changes and the management of RTGS systems by central banks have reduced the difference between the various systems. This is especially true for risk, whereas liquidity cost crucially depends on the refinancing policy adopted by the central bank and the co-ordination among the participants. On the basis of the recent evolution of payment systems in Europe, we verify the importance of liquidity, as well as other variables like transaction costs, for the choice of banks among different settlement systems. Cost factors imply that the nature of payments flows (value, commercial versus financial) and some structural features of the banking systems (dimension of the intermediaries, concentration of the banking sector) become important. The analysis is carried out both through a theoretical model and a cross-country comparison based on three data sources: ECB (European Central Bank, EBA (Euro Banking Association) and SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication). [source] The Deterring Role of the Medium of Payment in Takeover Contests: Theory and Evidence from the UKEUROPEAN FINANCIAL MANAGEMENT, Issue 4 2000Philippe Cornu The deterring role of the medium of payment in a takeover contest is analysed from the point of view of the bidder. Cash, debt and equity are considered as alternative mediums of payment, and the bidder equilibrium strategies are specified following the Perfect Bayesian Equilibrium requirements for a signalling game. The model predicts notably that cash offers signal a high-valuing bidder, strongly determined to acquire the target firm. Moreover, cash offers deter competition better than debt or equity offers. The theoretical results are validated with data from the UK over 1995,96. [source] Payment For Risk: Constant Beta Vs.FINANCIAL REVIEW, Issue 2 2002Dual-Beta Models Fama and French's (1992) assertion that investors receive premium payments for risk associated with the book value to market price (BE/ME) and size and not for holding beta risk has sparked a lively debate concerning risk factors that are priced in the market. Howton and Peterson (1998) use a dual-beta model to test the Fama and French conclusions. They conclude that the significant relationship between beta and returns depends on the use of the dual-beta model. This work, however, ignores the results reported by Pettengill, Sundaram, and Mathur (PSM, 1995). PSM find a significant relation between a constant risk beta and returns when data are segmented between up and down markets, but do not consider the impact of size and BE/ME. In this paper we show that the PSM (1995) market segmentation procedure alone provides a sufficient condition to identify a significant relation between beta and returns in the presence of size and BE/ME. Dual market betas may be relevant in explaining risk and return. However, the market segmentation procedure of PSM (1995) is the critical condition for finding a significant relationship between returns and betas. [source] Call for Papers for HSR Theme Issue Payment ReformHEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH, Issue 3 2009Article first published online: 15 MAY 200 No abstract is available for this article. [source] The Effect of State Medicaid Case-Mix Payment on Nursing Home Resident AcuityHEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH, Issue 4p1 2006Zhanlian Feng Objective. To examine the relationship between Medicaid case-mix payment and nursing home resident acuity. Data Sources. Longitudinal Minimum Data Set (MDS) resident assessments from 1999 to 2002 and Online Survey Certification and Reporting (OSCAR) data from 1996 to 2002, for all freestanding nursing homes in the 48 contiguous U.S. states. Study Design. We used a facility fixed-effects model to examine the effect of introducing state case-mix payment on changes in nursing home case-mix acuity. Facility acuity was measured by aggregating the nursing case-mix index (NCMI) from the MDS using the Resource Utilization Group (Version III) resident classification system, separately for new admits and long-stay residents, and by an OSCAR-derived index combining a range of activity of daily living dependencies and special treatment measures. Data Collection/Extraction Methods. We followed facilities over the study period to create a longitudinal data file based on the MDS and OSCAR, respectively, and linked facilities with longitudinal data on state case-mix payment policies for the same period. Principal Findings. Across three acuity measures and two data sources, we found that states shifting to case-mix payment increased nursing home acuity levels over the study period. Specifically, we observed a 2.5 percent increase in the average acuity of new admits and a 1.3 to 1.4 percent increase in the acuity of long-stay residents, following the introduction of case-mix payment. Conclusions. The adoption of case-mix payment increased access to care for higher acuity Medicaid residents. [source] Cost Convergence between Public and For-Profit Hospitals under Prospective Payment and High Competition in TaiwanHEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH, Issue 6p2 2004Sudha Xirasagar Objective. To test the hypotheses that: (1) average adjusted costs per discharge are higher in high-competition relative to low-competition markets, and (2) increased competition is associated with cost convergence between public and for-profit (FP) hospitals for case payment diagnoses, but not for cost-plus reimbursed diagnoses. Data Sources. Taiwan's National Health Insurance database; 325,851 inpatient claims for cesarean section, vaginal delivery, prostatectomy, and thyroidectomy (all case payment), and bronchial asthma and cholelithiasis (both cost-based payment). Study Design. Retrospective population-based, cross-sectional study. Data Analysis. Diagnosis-wise regression analyses were done to explore associations between cost per discharge and hospital ownership under high and low competition, adjusted for clinical severity and institutional characteristics. Principal Findings. Adjusted costs per discharge are higher for all diagnoses in high-competition markets. For case payment diagnoses, the magnitudes of adjusted cost differences between public and FP hospitals are lower under high competition relative to low competition. This is not so for the cost-based diagnoses. Conclusions. We find that the empirical evidence supports both our hypotheses. [source] Interview with a Quality Leader,Karen Davis, Executive Director of The Commonwealth FundJOURNAL FOR HEALTHCARE QUALITY, Issue 2 2009Lecia A. Albright Dr. Davis is a nationally recognized economist, with a distinguished career in public policy and research. Before joining the Fund, she served as chairman of the Department of Health Policy and Management at The Johns Hopkins School of Public Health, where she also held an appointment as professor of economics. She served as deputy assistant secretary for health policy in the Department of Health and Human Services from 1977 to 1980, and was the first woman to head a U.S. Public Health Service agency. Before her government career, Ms. Davis was a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution in Washington, DC; a visiting lecturer at Harvard University; and an assistant professor of economics at Rice University. A native of Oklahoma, she received her PhD in economics from Rice University, which recognized her achievements with a Distinguished Alumna Award in 1991. Ms. Davis is the recipient of the 2000 Baxter-Allegiance Foundation Prize for Health Services Research. In the spring of 2001, Ms. Davis received an honorary doctorate in human letters from John Hopkins University. In 2006, she was selected for the Academy Health Distinguished Investigator Award for significant and lasting contributions to the field of health services research in addition to the Picker Award for Excellence in the Advancement of Patient Centered Care. Ms. Davis has published a number of significant books, monographs, and articles on health and social policy issues, including the landmark books HealthCare Cost Containment, Medicare Policy, National Health Insurance: Benefits, Costs, and Consequences, and Health and the War on Poverty. She serves on the Board of Visitors of Columbia University, School of Nursing, and is on the Board of Directors of the Geisinger Health System. She was elected to the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 1975; has served two terms on the IOM governing Council (1986,90 and 1997,2000); was a member of the IOM Committee on Redesigning Health Insurance Benefits, Payment and Performance Improvement Programs; and was awarded the Adam Yarmolinsky medal in 2007 for her contributions to the mission of the Institute of Medicine. She is a past president of the Academy Health (formerly AHSRHP) and an Academy Health distinguished fellow, a member of the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, and a former member of the Agency for Healthcare Quality and Research National Advisory Committee. She also serves on the Panel of Health Advisors for the Congressional Budget Office. [source] Prospective Payment for Nursing Homes Increased Therapy Provision without Improving Community Discharge RatesJOURNAL OF AMERICAN GERIATRICS SOCIETY, Issue 8 2001Evelyn Hutt MD First page of article [source] An extortionary guerrilla movementJOURNAL OF APPLIED ECONOMETRICS, Issue 6 2007Norman Offstein This paper models an extortionary relationship between a pipeline operator and a guerrilla movement. Payment and attack decisions are modeled as an infinite-horizon Markov decision process, where each period the oil company chooses to pay or not pay an extortion demand and the movement decides to attack or not. Decisions depend on the level of single-period payoff and discounted expected future payoffs. We estimate the model with pipeline attack data and compare parameters when the discount factor is changed. We reject a zero discount factor hypothesis, demonstrating that the movement's observed attack pattern is compatible with extortionary behavior. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] Glamour Acquirers, Method of Payment and Post-acquisition Performance: The UK EvidenceJOURNAL OF BUSINESS FINANCE & ACCOUNTING, Issue 1-2 2003Sudi Sudarsanam We study the effect of different acquirer types, defined by financial status and their payment methods, on their short and long-term performance, in terms of abnormal returns using a variety of benchmark models. For a sample of 519 UK acquirers during 1983,95, we examine the abnormal return performance of acquirers based on their pre-bid financial status as either glamour or value acquirers using both the price to earnings (PE) ratio and market to book value ratio (MTBV). Value acquirers outperform glamour acquirers in the three-year post-acquisition period. One interpretation is that glamour firms have overvalued equity and tend to exploit their status and use it more often than cash to finance their acquisitions. As we move from glamour to value acquirers, there is a greater use of cash. Our results are broadly consistent with those for the US reported by Rau and Vermaelen (1998). However, in contrast to their study, we find stronger support for the method of payment hypothesis than for extrapolation hypothesis. Cash acquirers generate higher returns than equity acquirers, irrespective of their glamour/ value status. Our conclusions, based on four benchmark models for abnormal returns, suggest that stock markets in both the US and the UK may share a similar proclivity for over-extrapolation of past performance, at least in the bid period. They also tend to reassess acquirer performance in the post-acquisition period and correct this overextrapolation. These results have implications for the behavioural aspects of capital markets in both countries. [source] The Information Content of Method of Payment in Mergers: Evidence from Real Estate Investment Trusts (REITs)REAL ESTATE ECONOMICS, Issue 3 2001Robert D. Campbell We provide evidence on the information content of the method of payment in mergers by examining shareholder returns in a sample of REIT mergers over the period 1994,1998. When the target firm is publicly held, we find that transactions are always stock-financed, and that acquiring firm shareholders sustain small negative returns around the announcement date. When the target is privately held, cash financing, mixed (stock and cash) financing, and placement of blocks of acquirer stock with target owners are more prevalent. Acquirer returns are positive in stock-financed mergers when the target is private, which is consistent with both the information signaling and monitoring by blockholders hypotheses. Further analysis supports the information signaling hypothesis as the dominant explanation. The effects of other explanatory variables are similar whether the target is public or private. Most significantly, acquiring shareholder returns are negatively related to the acquirer's size, but positively related to the acquirer's use of the UPREIT organizational structure. The positive wealth effects of the UPREIT structure are not fully explained as the capitalization of tax benefits. [source] Earned Income Tax Credits: Do They Have Any Role to Play in Australia?THE AUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC REVIEW, Issue 1 2001David Ingles Earned income tax credits (EITCs) have been used mainly in the United States. The Australian tax,transfer system is already very complicated and the aims of the EITC,notably reductions in effective tax rates for low income earners,might be achievable through reforms to existing components of the system. Such tax rates can be lowered either through reductions in social security tapers, or reductions in income tax payable. Action to reduce tapers affecting families is already proceeding through the social security component of the Government's tax reform package. To go further, by reducing tapers on the main allowances, like Newstart Allowance and Parenting Payment, would accelerate developments for such allowances to become forms of wage supplementation for the low paid. If it were not desired to go further down this path (and it does have problems), then relief of income tax burdens could be implemented through changes to the rate structure. While the EITC may make sense in the US context, a country with a well-developed welfare system like that of Australia has other options. In particular any EITC in this country is likely to be a supplement, not an alternative, to existing cash support for low income families. [source] Stimulus for Organ Donation: A Survey of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons MembershipAMERICAN JOURNAL OF TRANSPLANTATION, Issue 9 2009J. R. Rodrigue Federal legislation has been proposed to modify the National Organ Transplant Act in a way that would permit government-regulated strategies, including financial incentives, to be implemented and evaluated. The Council and Ethics Committee of the American Society of Transplant Surgeons conducted a brief web-based survey of its members' (n = 449, 41.6% response rate) views on acceptable or unacceptable strategies to increase organ donation. The majority of the membership supports reimbursement for funeral expenses, an income tax credit on the final return of a deceased donor and an income tax credit for registering as an organ donor as strategies for increasing deceased donation. Payment for lost wages, guaranteed health insurance and an income tax credit are strategies most strongly supported by the membership to increase living donation. For both deceased and living donation, the membership is mostly opposed to cash payments to donors, their estates or to next-of-kin. There is strong support for a government-regulated trial to evaluate the potential benefits and harms of financial incentives for both deceased and living donation. Overall, there is strong support within the ASTS membership for changes to NOTA that would permit the implementation and careful evaluation of indirect, government-regulated strategies to increase organ donation. [source] EFFECTS OF A CHILD'S DISABILITY ON AFFECTED FEMALE'S LABOUR SUPPLY IN AUSTRALIAAUSTRALIAN ECONOMIC PAPERS, Issue 3 2010ZENG-HUA LU Australia has experienced a growing rate of child disability, with the rate of 3.7 per cent in 1998 increasing to 4.3 per cent in 2003 for children aged under four years and from 9.5 per cent to 10 per cent for children aged five to 14 years in the same period. However, surprisingly no study has examined the economic effects of child disability in the Australian context. This paper attempts to quantify the link between a child's disability and the work behaviour of the female in the affected family. Our findings provide empirical justifications for the current policy linking the severity level of child disability to the assessment of eligibility for Carer Payment (Child). We also found that child disability has different impacts on the labour market activities of married women and non-married women. It appears that child disability imposes a greater hardship on non-married women than on married women in terms of work choice decision. Once non-married women manage to enter the labour force, they may have to stay on to work as usual even if they have a disabled child, because they may not have other family members to turn to for help as married women do. [source] Payments for Ecosystem Services in Nicaragua: Do Market-based Approaches Work?DEVELOPMENT AND CHANGE, Issue 3 2010Gert Van Hecken ABSTRACT The concept of Payments for Ecosystem Services (PES) is gaining increasing attention among scholars as well as conservation and development practitioners. The premises of this innovative conservation approach are appealing: private land users, usually poorly motivated to protect nature on their land, will do so if they receive payments from environmental service buyers which cover part of the land users' opportunity costs of developing the land. However, this article warns against an over-enthusiastic adoption of a one-sided market-based PES approach. Based on a field study of the Regional Integrated Silvopastoral Approaches to Ecosystem Management Project (RISEMP), one of the main PES pilot projects in Nicaragua, it suggests that a mixture of economic and non-economic factors motivated farmers to adopt the envisaged silvopastoral practices and that the actual role of PES is mistakenly understood as a simple matter of financial incentives. The authors argue that PES approaches should be understood as a part of a broader process of local institutional transformation rather than as a market-based alternative for allegedly ineffective government and/or community governance. [source] Cost savings in migraine associated with less chest pain on new triptan therapy.HEADACHE, Issue 3 2003JT Wang Am J Manag Care. 2002 Feb;8(3 Suppl):S102-S107 Objectives: This article constructs an economic model to estimate cost of chest-pain-related care in migraine patients receiving almotriptan 12.5 mg compared with those receiving sumatriptan 50 mg. Study Design: This population-based, retrospective cohort study used data from the MEDSTAT Marketscan database (Ann Arbor, Michigan) to quantify incidence and costs of chest-pain-related diagnoses and procedures. After a 6-month exclusion period, the study used a pre-post design, with baseline and treatment periods defined, respectively, as 5 months before and after receiving sumatriptan therapy. An economic model was constructed to estimate annual cost savings per 1,000 patients receiving almotriptan instead of sumatriptan as a function of differing rates of chest pain. Annual direct medical cost avoided was calculated for a hypothetical health plan covering 1 million lives. Results: Among a cohort of 1,390 patients, the incidence of chest-pain-related diagnoses increased significantly (43.6%) with sumatriptan, from 110 during the baseline period to 158 during the treatment period (P = .003). Aggregate costs for chest-pain-related diagnoses and procedures increased 33.1%, from $22,713 to $30,234. Payments for inpatient hospital services rose 10-fold; costs for primary care visits and outpatient hospital visits rose 53.1% and 14.4%, respectively. Payments for angiography increased from $0 to $462, and costs for chest radiographs and electrocardiograms increased 58.7% and 31.2%, respectively. Sumatriptan treatment was associated with a 3-fold increase in payments for services for painful respiration and other chest pain. The model predicted $11,215 in direct medical cost savings annually per 1000 patients treated with almotriptan instead of sumatriptan. Annual direct medical costs avoided for the health plan totaled $195,913. Conclusion: Using almotriptan instead of sumatriptan will likely reduce the cost of chest-pain-related care for patients with migraine headaches. Comment: In my view, this study takes conjecture a step too far. The lower reported chest adverse events (AEs) reported in clinical trials where all AEs are scrutinized will not necessarily lead to lower reporting in the clinic. This hypothesis remains to be proven in a well-designed post-marketing surveillance program, untarnished by commercial sponsorship. Until such an independent prospective study is carried out, the extrapolations described here and in similar papers are pure conjecture and should be classed as the lowest grade of evidence on a par with uncorroborated clinical opinion. DSM [source] Impact of Chest Pain on Cost of Migraine Treatment With Almotriptan and SumatriptanHEADACHE, Issue 2002Joseph T. Wang MS Chest-related symptoms occur with all triptans; up to 41% of patients with migraine who receive sumatriptan experience chest symptoms, and 10% of patients discontinue treatment. Thus, the cost of chest pain-related care was estimated in migraineurs receiving almotriptan 12.5 mg versus sumatriptan 50 mg. A population-based, retrospective cohort study used data to quantify the incidence and costs of chest pain-related diagnoses and procedures. An economic model was constructed to estimate annual cost savings per 1000 patients receiving almotriptan versus sumatriptan based on the reported rates of chest pain. Annual direct medical cost avoided was calculated for a hypothetical health plan covering 1 million lives. Among a cohort of 1390 patients, the incidence of chest pain-related diagnoses increased significantly by 43.6% with sumatriptan (P=.003). Aggregate costs for chest pain-related diagnoses and procedures increased from $22 713 to $30 234. Payments for inpatient hospital services, costs for primary care visits, and costs for outpatient hospital visits increased by over 100%, 53.1%, and 14.4%, respectively. The model predicted $11 215 in direct medical cost savings annually per 1000 patients treated with almotriptan versus sumatriptan. Annual direct medical costs avoided totaled $194 358, and when applied to recent estimates of 86 million lives currently covered by almotriptan treatment, translates into an annual cost savings of just under $17 million for chest pain and associated care. Thus, using almotriptan in place of sumatriptan will likely reduce the cost of chest pain-related care. [source] Redistribution or horizontal equity in Hong Kong's mixed public,private health system: a policy conundrumHEALTH ECONOMICS, Issue 1 2009Gabriel M. Leung Abstract We examine the distributional characteristics of Hong Kong's mixed public,private health system to identify the net redistribution achieved through public spending on health care, compare the income-related inequality and inequity of public and private care and measure horizontal inequity in health-care delivery overall. Payments for public care are highly concentrated on the better-off whereas benefits are pro-poor. As a consequence, public health care effects significant net redistribution from the rich to the poor. Public care is skewed towards the poor in part not only because of allocation according to need but also because the rich opt out of the public sector and consume most of the private care. Overall, there is horizontal inequity favouring the rich in general outpatient care and (very marginally) inpatient care. Pro-rich bias in the distribution of private care outweighs the pro-poor bias of public care. A lesser role for private finance may improve horizontal equity of utilisation but would also reduce the degree of net redistribution through the public sector. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The Costs of Decedents in the Medicare Program: Implications for Payments to Medicare+Choice PlansHEALTH SERVICES RESEARCH, Issue 1 2004Melinda Beeuwkes Buntin Objective. To discuss and quantify the incentives that Medicare managed care plans have to avoid (through selective enrollment or disenrollment) people who are at risk for very high costs, focusing on Medicare beneficiaries in the last year of life,a group that accounts for more than one-quarter of Medicare's annual expenditures. Data Source. Medicare administrative claims for 1994 and 1995. Study Design. We calculated the payment a plan would have received under three risk-adjustment systems for each beneficiary in our 1995 sample based on his or her age, gender, county of residence, original reason for Medicare entitlement, and principal inpatient diagnoses received during any hospital stays in 1994. We compared these amounts to the actual costs incurred by those beneficiaries. We then looked for clinical categories that were predictive of costs, including costs in a beneficiary's last year of life, not accounted for by the risk adjusters. Data Extraction Methods. The analyses were conducted using claims for a 5 percent random sample of Medicare beneficiaries who died in 1995 and a matched group of survivors. Principal Findings. Medicare is currently implementing the Principal Inpatient Diagnostic Cost Groups (PIP-DCG) risk adjustment payment system to address the problem of risk selection in the Medicare+Choice program. We quantify the strong financial disincentives to enroll terminally ill beneficiaries that plans still have under this risk adjustment system. We also show that up to one-third of the selection observed between Medicare HMOs and the traditional fee-for-service system could be due to differential enrollment of decedents. A risk adjustment system that incorporated more of the available diagnostic information would attenuate this disincentive; however, plans could still use clinical information (not included in the risk adjustment scheme) to identify beneficiaries whose expected costs exceed expected payments. Conclusions. More disaggregated prospective risk adjustment methods and alternative payment systems that compensate plans for delivering care to certain classes of patients should be considered to ensure access to high-quality managed care for all beneficiaries. [source] Simulation of the Impact of the Recognition of Stock Options on the Earnings: The case of Canadian Companies,ACCOUNTING PERSPECTIVES, Issue 1 2005SILVA BODJOVA ABSTRACT One of the most controversial accounting issues pertains to stock compensation. In Canada, the Canadian Institute of Chartered Accountants (CICA) approved section 3870, Stock-based Compensation and Other Stock-Based Payments, on November 13, 2001, to take effect in January 2002. Section 3870 forces companies to "take a look at the real economic cost of most of the stock-based compensation mechanisms" (AcSB Bulletin, October 2001, 1). The adoption of section 3870 was aimed at harmonizing Canadian accounting practice with U.S. standards. The new standard, which was initially based on two American accounting standards - APB Opinion No. 25 and SFAS No. 123 - gave companies the choice of using either the fair value method or the pro forma disclosure of net income and adjusted earnings per share to account for stock-based compensation. The Accounting Standards Board (AcSB) nevertheless recommended that Canadian companies use the fair value method, which consists in estimating and recognizing the value of the stock options at the grant date. [source] Severance Payments and Firm,specific Human CapitalLABOUR, Issue 1 2003Jens Suedekum What effect does employment protection through severance payments have on the behaviour of employed workers? We analyse this issue within a stochastic two,period framework where workers decide on human capital investments and find two competing effects: severance payments imply higher job security that fosters human capital formation. At the same time, a lay,off is perceived by the workers to be a weaker penalty if severance payments are provided. This incentive lowers their optimal amount of firm,specific investments. Which effect prevails on balance depends on the distribution of investment returns among firm and workers. For strong positive reactions, employment protection is also in the interests of the firm. [source] Optimal Control of Selling Channels for an Online Retailer with Cost-per-Click Payments and Seasonal ProductsPRODUCTION AND OPERATIONS MANAGEMENT, Issue 3 2007Frank Y. Chen The problem studied in this paper is a predigestion of the decision faced by online retailers (etailers) that advertise on publisher or comparison-shopping websites. An etailer may sell its product not only through its online and bricks-and-mortar stores, but also through the websites of one or more third parties (e.g., Yahoo.com). However, the etailer has to pay a certain amount to such third parties in an action-based payment scheme, such as a cost-per-click (CPC) scheme. Under the CPC scheme, payment is based solely on click-throughs, which means that the etailer pays only when a shopper clicks through to the product page of its website. Only a fraction of such clicks lead to actual sales. The extra cost that is associated with shoppers who first click through to the third-party websites makes them less attractive as customers than those who directly visit the etailer's online store. Moreover, the CPC rate for a prominent placement is normally set by competitive bidding, and thus varies over time. Therefore, the etailer needs to decide dynamically whether or not to list on a third-party website. The structural properties of the optimal policy are discussed, and numerical examples are given to show the revenue impact of dynamic listing control. [source] | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||