Whole life health insurance

Disserta����o apresentada na Faculdade de Ci��ncias e Tecnologia da Universidade Nova de Lisboa para obten����o do Grau de mestre em Matem��tica e Aplica����es

Supplementary private health insurance: The characteristics of subscribers

A Work Project, presented as part of the requirements for the Award of a Masters Degree in Economics from the NOVA ��� School of Business and Economics

Supplementary private health insurance: The characteristics of subscribers

Despite the fact that public medical care has being heavily subsidized through a statutory national health system there has been a growing number of people who opt to enroll in extra private coverage. Using a two part model to infer the insurance decision and subsequent amount of insurance chosen we found out that people���s decision over private health coverage is not related with their health. The pattern of consumption of medical care that is not available in the public sector and a good socio economic background were found significant modeling the demand for private health insurance.

Double coverage and demand for health care: Evidence from quantile regression

An individual experiences double coverage when he bene ts from more than one health insurance plan at the same time. This paper examines the impact of such supplementary insurance on the demand for health care services. Its novelty is that within the context of count data modelling and without imposing restrictive parametric assumptions, the analysis is carried out for di��erent points of the conditional distribution, not only for its mean location. Results indicate that moral hazard is present across the whole outcome distribution for both public and private second layers of health insurance coverage but with greater magnitude in the latter group. By looking at di��erent points we unveil that stronger double coverage e��ects are smaller for high levels of usage. We use data for Portugal, taking advantage of particular features of the public and private protection schemes on top of the statutory National Health Service. By exploring the last Portuguese Health Survey, we were able to evaluate their impacts on the consumption of doctor visi

Defining health law or the edgewood syndrome

ABSTRACT - The authors��� main purpose is to present ideas on defining Health Law by highlighting the particularities of the field of Health Law as well as of the teaching of this legal branch, hoping to contribute to the maturity and academic recognition of Health Law, not only as a very rich legal field but also as a powerful social instrument in the fulfillment of fundamental human rights. The authors defend that Health Law has several characteristics that distinguish it from traditional branches of law such as its complexity and multidisciplinary nature. The study of Health Law normally covers issues such as access to care, health systems organization, patients��� rights, health professionals��� rights and duties, strict liability, healthcare contracts between institutions and professionals, medical data protection and confidentiality, informed consent and professional secrecy, crossing different legal fields including administrative, antitrust, constitutional, contract, corporate, criminal, environmental, food and drug, intellectual property, insurance, international and supranational, labor/employment, property, taxation, and tort law. This is one of the reasons why teaching Health Law presents a challenge to the teacher, which will have to find the programs, content and methods appropriate to the profile of recipients which are normally non jurists and the needs of a multidisciplinary curricula. By describing academic definitions of Health Law as analogous to Edgewood, a fiction house which has a different architectural style in each of its walls, the authors try to describe which elements should compose a more comprehensive definition. In this article Biolaw, Bioethics and Human Rights are defined as complements to a definition of Health Law: Biolaw because it is the legal field that treats the social consequences that arise from technological advances in health and life sciences; Bioethics which evolutions normally influence the shape of the legal framework of Health; and, finally Human Rights theory and declarations are outlined as having always been historically linked to medicine and health, being the umbrella that must cover all the issues raised in the area of Health Law. To complete this brief incursion on the definition on Health Law the authors end by giving note of the complex relations between this field of Law and Public Health. Dealing more specifically on laws adopted by governments to provide important health services and regulate industries and individual conduct that affect the health of the populations, this aspect of Health Law requires special attention to avoid an imbalance between public powers and individual freedoms. The authors conclude that public trust in any health system is essentially sustained by developing health structures which are consistent with essential fundamental rights, such as the universal right to access health care, and that the study of Health Law can contribute with important insights into both health structures and fundamental rights in order to foster a health system that respects the Rule of Law.-------------------------- RESUMO ��� O objectivo principal dos autores �� apresentar ideias sobre a defini����o de Direito da Sa��de, destacando as particularidades desta ��rea do direito, bem como do ensino deste ramo jur��dico, na esperan��a de contribuir para a maturidade e para o reconhecimento acad��mico do mesmo, n��o s�� como um campo juridicamente muito rico, mas, tamb��m, como um poderoso instrumento social no cumprimento dos direitos humanos fundamentais. Os autores defendem que o Direito da Sa��de tem diversas caracter��sticas que o distinguem dos ramos tradicionais do direito, como a sua complexidade e natureza multidisciplinar. O estudo do Direito da Sa��de abrangendo normalmente quest��es como o acesso aos cuidados, a organiza����o dos sistemas de sa��de, os direitos e deveres dos doentes e dos profissionais de sa��de, a responsabilidade civil, os contratos entre institui����es de sa��de e profissionais, a protec����o e a confidencialidade de dados cl��nicos, o consentimento informado e o sigilo profissional, implica uma abordagem transversal de diferentes ��reas legais, incluindo os Direitos contratual, administrativo, antitrust, constitucional, empresarial, penal, ambiental, alimentar, farmac��utico, da propriedade intelectual, dos seguros, internacional e supranacional, trabalho, fiscal e penal. Esta �� uma das raz��es pelas quais o ensino do Direito da Sa��de representa um desafio para o professor, que ter�� de encontrar os programas, conte��dos e m��todos adequados ao perfil dos destinat��rios, que s��o normalmente n��o juristas e ��s necessidades de um curr��culo multidisciplinar. Ao descrever as v��rias defini����es acad��micas de Direito da Sa��de como an��logas a Edgewood, uma casa de fic����o que apresenta um estilo arquitect��nico diferente em cada uma de suas paredes, os autores tentam encontrar os elementos que deveriam compor uma defini����o mais abrangente. No artigo, Biodireito, Bio��tica e Direitos Humanos s��o descritos como complementos de uma defini����o de Direito da Sa��de: o Biodireito, dado que �� o campo jur��dico que trata as consequ��ncias sociais que surgem dos avan��os tecnol��gicos na ��rea da sa��de e das ci��ncias da vida; a Bio��tica cujas evolu����es influenciam normalmente o quadro jur��dico da Sa��de; e, por fim, a teoria dos Direitos Humanos e as suas declara����es as quais t��m estado sempre historicamente ligadas �� medicina e �� sa��de, devendo funcionar como pano de fundo de todas as quest��es levantadas na ��rea do Direito da Sa��de. Para finalizar a sua breve incurs��o sobre a defini����o de Direito da Sa��de, os autores d��o ainda nota das complexas rela����es entre este ��ltimo e a Sa��de P��blica, onde se tratam mais especificamente as leis aprovadas pelos governos para regular os servi��os de sa��de, as ind��strias e as condutas individuais que afectam a sa��de das popula����es, aspecto do Direito da Sa��de que requer uma aten����o especial para evitar um desequil��brio entre os poderes p��blicos e as liberdades individuais. Os autores concluem afirmando que a confian��a do p��blico em qualquer sistema de sa��de ��, essencialmente, sustentada pelo desenvolvimento de estruturas de sa��de que sejam consistentes com o direito constitucional da sa��de, tais como o direito universal ao acesso a cuidados de sa��de, e que o estudo do Direito da Sa��de pode contribuir com elementos

Analysis of mental health service financial models with a particular emphasis of Ireland

ABSTRACT: Financing is a critical factor in ensuring the optimal development and delivery of a mental health system. The primary method of financing worldwide is tax-based. However many low income countries depend on out-of-pocket payments. There is a report on Irish Health Care funding but none that deals exclusively with mental health care. This paper analyses the various financial models that exist globally with respect to financing the mental health sector, examines the impact of various models on service users, especially in terms of relative ���financial burden��� and provides a more detailed examination of the current mental health funding situation in Ireland After extensive internet and hardcopy research on the above topics, the findings were analysed and a number of recommendations were reached. Mental health service should be free at the point of delivery to achieve universal coverage. Government tax-based funding or mandatory social insurance with government top-ups, as required, appears the optimal option, although there is no one funding system applicable everywhere. Out-of-pocket funding can create a crippling financial burden for service users. It is important to employ improved revenue collection systems, eliminate waste, provide equitable resource distribution, ring fence mental health funding and cap the number of visits, where necessary. Political, economic, social and cultural factors play a role in funding decisions and this can be clearly seen in the context of the current economic recession in Ireland. Only 33% of the Irish population has access to free public health care and the number health insurance policy holders has dramatically declined, resulting in increased out-of-pocket payments. This approach risks negatively impacting on the social determinants of health, increasing health inequalities and negatively affecting economic productivity. It is therefore important the Irish government examines other options to provide funding for mental health services.

Obama's law : analysis of a breakthrough law on healthcare access and lessons for the Portuguese health system management

ABSTRACT - The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act shook the foundations of the US health system, offering all Americans access to health care by changing the way the health insurance industry works. As President Obama signed the Act on 23 March 2010, he said that it stood for ���the core principle that everybody should have some basic security when it comes to their health care���. Unlike the U.S., the Article 64 of the Portuguese Constitution provides, since 1976, the right to universal access to health care. However, facing a severe economic crisis, Portugal has, under the supervision of the Troika, a tight schedule to implement measures to improve the efficiency of the National Health Service. Both countries are therefore despite their different situation, in a conjuncture of reform and the use of new health management measures. The present work, using a qualitative research methodology examines the Affordable Care Act in order to describe its principles and enforcement mechanisms. In order to describe the reality in Portugal, the Portuguese health system and the measures imposed by Troika are also analyzed. The intention of this entire analysis is not only to disclose the innovative U.S. law, but to find some innovative measures that could serve health management in Portugal. Essentially we identified the Exchanges and Wellness Programs, described throughout this work, leaving also the idea of the possibility of using them in the Portuguese national health system.