HEALTH ECONOMICS AND ECONOMICS HEALTH CARE

In the “National Health Systems” type of health systems, the funding for health care comes mostly from. Insurance policy premia. Social security contributions (also known as payroll taxes). General taxes (income and consumption taxes, company taxes, property taxes etc.).

In order to guarantee equitable access to health care while avoiding moral hazard. Health care systems typically use low user charges and prospective reimbursement to providers. Health care systems typically use low user charges and retrospective reimbursement to providers. Health care systems typically use high user charges and retrospective reimbursement to providers.

A “Third Party Payer” in a health system refers to: An institution that collects money in order to fund the provision of health care. An institution that remunerates health care providers. Both answers are correct.

In the USA, most of the population. Have private health insurance. Have no health insurance. Have public health insurance.

Most of those who have private insurance in the USA. Both answers are false. Have an employment-based insurance plan. Have opted out of the Medicare health insurance scheme.

In the group of OECD countries, expenditure on health care. Both answers are correct. Reaches around 10% of GDP on average. Is mostly carried out by the public sector.

A “fee for service” payment mechanism. Is a method of prospective reimbursement to providers in a health care system. Both answers are correct. May be used to reimburse providers both by third party payers and by patients’ when directly purchasing health care services.

Third Party Payers are always. Public institutions. Both answers are false. Private institutions.

The Sistema Nacional de Salud of Spain may be said to be. Both answers are false. An HMO (Health Maintenance Organisation) of the Classic Staff Model type. An HMO (Health Maintenance Organisation) of the Independence Practice Association (IPA) type.

“Direct provision” in a health care system refers to. The degree of integration between third party payers and providers. The possibility to use specialized care without having to obtain a referral from the primary health care network. Both answers are correct.

A doctor is said to be a “principal” for a patient. Both answers are false. Because doctors have a high social status in most societies. Because doctors delegate decisions about treatments to the judgement of patients.

The agency relationship between doctors and patients is a result of. Both answers are false. Doctors normally providing their services at a medical enterprise. The information asymmetry about medicine between the two parties.

Doctors act as agents for Third Party Payers. In order to decide which treatments patients should get. Both answers are false. Because Third Party Payers and doctors have the same financial incentives.

Under a pure fee for service system. There is risk of on behalf of patients leading to overutilization of medical services. There is risk of moral hazard on behalf of providers leading to undersupply of medical services. There is risk of moral hazard on behalf of providers leading to oversupply of medical services.

The licensure systems for physicians. Reduce physicians’ income in comparison with what they would obtain in a market without licensure systems. Both answers are correct. Aim to solve the problem of quality verification on behalf of consumers of health care services.

Under a pure capitation system. There is risk of on behalf of patients leading to overutilization of medical services. There is risk of moral hazard on behalf of providers leading to undersupply of medical services. There is risk of moral hazard on behalf of providers leading to oversupply of medical services.

Under a pure salary system. There is risk of on behalf of patients leading to overutilization of medical services. There is risk of moral hazard on behalf of providers leading to undersupply of medical services. There is risk of moral hazard on behalf of providers leading to oversupply of medical services.

Under a pure capitation reimbursement system. Financial risk from health care costs risk is borne by health care providers. Financial risk from health care costs is borne by Third Party Payers. Financial risk from health care costs is borne by patients.

Under a pure capitation reimbursement system. Both answers are correct. Health care providers are paid according to how much medical activity they carry out. Health care providers are paid according to how many patients may use their services when needed.

In a prospective capitation system of health care funding, withholding part of the money until the end of the contracted period. Aims to hide income from the tax authorities and therefore reduce the tax bill. Both answers are correct. Aims to avoid unjustified referrals of patients to health care units outside the capitation system.

A Cost Effectiveness Analysis for a health program whose objective is to avoid deaths from COVID-19 finds that it is less costly and that it saves less lives than the standard treatment. The Incremental Cost Effectiveness Ratio for this program is positive. Both options are correct. In a Cost-Effectiveness plane, this program would lie in the south-west quadrant.

A Cost Effectiveness Analysis for a health program whose objective is to avoid deaths from COVID-19 finds that it is less costly and that it saves more lives than the standard treatment. Both options are correct. In a Cost-Effectiveness plane, this program would lie in the south-east quadrant. The Incremental Cost Effectiveness Ratio for this program is negative.

A Cost Effectiveness Analysis for a health program whose objective is to avoid deaths from COVID-19 finds that it is more costly and that it saves less lives than the standard treatment. This program might be recommended as an alternative to the standard treatment depending on the willingness to pay to avoid one death. Both options are false. This program should never be recommended as an alternative to the standard treatment.

A Cost Effectiveness Analysis for a health program whose objective is to avoid deaths from COVID-19 finds that it is more costly and that it saves less lives than the standard treatment. Both options are correct. In a Cost-Effectiveness plane, this program would lie in the north-west quadrant. The Incremental Cost Effectiveness Ratio for this program is positive.

A Cost Effectiveness Analysis for a health program whose objective is to avoid deaths from COVID-19 finds that it is less costly and that it saves more lives than the standard treatment. This program should never be recommended as an alternative to the standard treatment. This program might be recommended as an alternative to the standard treatment depending on the willingness pay for avoiding one death. Both options are false.

A Cost Effectiveness Analysis for a health program whose objective is to avoid deaths from COVID-19 finds that it is more costly and that it saves less lives than the standard treatment. This program should always be recommended as an alternative to the standard treatment. This program might be recommended as an alternative to the standard treatment depending on the willingness to pay to avoid one death. Both options are false.

A Cost of Illness Analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic using the public sector perspective: Both options are correct. Should include as costs the benefits received by workers who lose their job because of the pandemic. Should include as a cost the time spent by caretakers looking after sick relatives.

A Cost Effectiveness Analysis for a health program whose objective is to avoid deaths from COVID-19 finds that it is less costly and that it saves less lives than the standard treatment. Both options are false. This program should never be recommended as an alternative to the standard treatment. This program might be recommended as an alternative to the standard treatment depending on the willingness to be compensated for losing one life.

A Cost Effectiveness Analysis for a health program whose objective is to avoid deaths from COVID-19 finds that it is more costly and that it saves more lives than the standard treatment. Both options are correct. In a Cost-Effectiveness plane, this program would lie in the north-west quadrant. The Incremental Cost Effectiveness Ratio for this program is positive.

A Cost of Illness Analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic should include the time spent by caretakers looking after sick relatives as: A direct medical cost. Direct non-medical cost. An indirect cost.

In the US, students who took private SAT coaching courses were found to score lower on the SAT exam. Can you conclude that the coaching courses worsened their results?. No, because individuals self-select into treatment based on characteristics related to the outcome. Yes, because good students do not need to take private coaching. None of the answers is correct.

Conjoint analysis differs from simple SP surveys because it: Elicits preferences through ranking or choosing between multi-attribute scenarios including price. Always produces monetary values identical to revealed preference estimates. Uses only direct open-ended questions about total willingness to pay.

In revealed preference studies of WTP for health care, information is derived from: The actual behaviour of individuals in related markets. None of the answers is correct. Questionnaires asking for hypothetical values.

The main purpose of the control group in a randomized experiment is to: Both answers are correct. Ensure that everyone eventually receives treatment. Provide a benchmark to estimate what would have happened in the absence of the intervention.

To derive HRQOL weights from EuroQol-5D data, researchers may use: Regression analysis with VAS scores as the dependent variable. Trade-off techniques such as Standard Gamble or Time Trade-Off. Both answers are correct.

The 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics was awarded to Banerjee, Duflo, and Kremer for their work on development economics. What key methodological contribution did they pioneer?. Developing macroeconomic models of inflation, wages and technological change. Using randomized controlled trials to identify causal effects of development and health interventions. Estimating the effects of innovation and disruptive technological changes.

During a cholera outbreak in Tsarist Russia, mortality was observed to be higher in districts with more doctors. This seemed paradoxical unless one understood the underlying mechanism. Which explanation is consistent with the observed pattern?. Doctors caused higher cholera mortality through poor treatment. Both answers are correct. More doctors were sent to areas with higher cholera incidence.

In the Kenyan Deworming Project, schools were randomly assigned to receive deworming medication at different times. Attendance was tracked for several years. Randomization across schools allowed researchers to: Compare attendance outcomes between otherwise similar groups differing only in treatment timing. Control for gender differences in attendance. Both answers are correct.

Which of the following are typical limitations of randomized trials?. They can be expensive and slow to implement. They may not be externally valid for the broader population. Both answers are correct.

Attrition in randomized trials refers to: The decrease in sample size due to undersampling. None of the answers is correct. The loss of participants during the study, potentially undermining comparability between groups.

A Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) index: Represents the quality dimension used in QALY calculations. Maps health states onto a 0–1 scale where 0 is death and 1 is perfect health. Both answers are correct.

Distributional concerns in valuing QALYs relate to: None of the answers is correct. The precision of regression coefficients in HRQOL estimation. Whether society values health gains depending on who receives them.

Which of the following statements about bias is correct?. Both answers are correct. Bias occurs when treatment assignment is correlated with other determinants of the outcome. Bias can make an effective treatment appear harmful.

The key to identifying a causal effect is to observe: Both answers are correct. The correlation between outcomes and unobserved variables. The difference between potential outcomes under treatment and no treatment for comparable units.

In non-randomized studies, selection bias arises when: None of the answers is correct. Individuals who receive treatment differ systematically from those who do not. Treatment is assigned purely by chance.

Cost-utility analysis (CUA) differs from general cost-effectiveness analysis (CEA) because: Both answers are correct. Outcomes are measured in QALYs rather than disease-specific units. It allows comparison across interventions affecting different health outcomes.

What is one limitation of using GDP-based thresholds for valuing QALYs?. They may not capture distributional or ethical concerns about who benefits from health gains. They eliminate the need for cost-effectiveness analysis. They do not automatically adjust for inflation and demographics.

To compute QALYs gained, we need: Life expectancy changes and an index of health-related quality of life (HRQOL). Information on treatment costs. Both answers are correct.

Randomized trials are considered the “gold standard” because: They eliminate sampling variability completely. Randomization ensures that treatment and control groups are identical in expectation except for the treatment. None of the answers is correct.

Even when treatment is randomly assigned, results may still be biased. Under which conditions can randomization still lead to biased estimates?. Both answers are correct. When attrition differs systematically between treatment and control groups. When participants modify their behaviour due to awareness of being studied.

In the typical EU country, expenditure on pharmaceuticals accounts for. Both options are false. Between 65%-75% of total expenditure on Health Care. Between 45%-55% of total expenditure on Health Care.

Mark the correct answer. A generic drug can be marketed as an alternative to drugs that have a patent in effect. Both answers are correct. Orphan drugs are used to treat rare diseases.

The structure of the pharmaceutical industry in a typical EU country can be thought of as a. A perfectly competitive market. An oligopolistic supply and many small buyers that lack bargaining power. Both answers are false.

A pharmaceutical patent restricts competition from: Drugs with the same chemical composition. Drugs in the same therapeutic group. Both answers are correct.

When the concentration of the pharmaceutical industry is measured using sales by therapeutical group. The fact that most medicines are substitutive among themselves is better refl ected. The industry turns out to be more concentrated than when total sales are used. Both answers are false.

A co-payment applied to the consumption of prescribed medicines. Is a fl at amount of money to be paid for each prescription. Both answers are incorrect. Is an economic incentive aimed at encouraging the consumption of pharmaceuticals.

Mark the correct option. A pharmaceutical patent grants a monopoly on the production of a drug for an unlimited period. Pharmaceutical patents are used in order to retrieve the fi xed costs of R+D (Research and Development). Pharmaceutical patents are used to fi x drug prices as close as possible to their marginal cost of production.

Mark the correct option. The pharmaceutical industry is characterised by having large fi xed costs and small marginal costs. The pharmaceutical industry has no barriers of entry. Both answers are false.

Economists say that innovative ideas are non-rival. Because once an idea is created it can be used an unlimited number of times. Because you cannot make anybody pay for using innovative ideas. Because people with good ideas tend to be very cooperative.

Pharmaceutical products. Cannot be advertised in any type of media. Both answers are false. Are not subject to brand loyalty.

A risk averse individual will be willing to pay for a health insurance policy. A premium below 50% of the health care expenditures that he expects to have to pay. A premium that is greater than the actuarially fair premium. A premium above 50% of the health care expenditures that he expects to have to pay.

“Consumption smoothing” is a result of. The fact that the more an individual consumes, the higher is his/her marginal utility of consumption. The preference for maintaining a steady level of consumption over time. Both answers are false.

Moral hazard in an insurance market. Increases the costs that insurers must pay. Both answers are correct. Results from changes in behaviour once individuals are insured.

Choose the right answer. Individuals considered to be “good risks” are less prone to seek insurance than those considered “bad risks”. Both answers are false. Individuals considered to be “good risks” are more prone to seek insurance than those considered “bad risks”.

For a health insurance company, to insure as many individuals as possible is desirable because. The uncertainty about expenditures on reimbursements to insurees health care bills will decrease as the number of insurees increases. Both options are correct. It will be able to charge a greater premium as the number of insurees increases.

The presence of moral hazard in an insurance market. Both answers are correct. Can be limited by making insurance compulsory. Recommends offering partial insurance rather than full insurance.

A deductible in an insurance policy. Is the part of the cost that insurees must pay if an adverse event happens. Is the fraction of the premium that can may be deducted from income tax. Both answers are false.

A “pooling equilibrium” in an insurance market. Cannot exist if both good risks and bad risks are insured. Requires that both good risks and bad risks are insured. Cannot exist if insurance is compulsory.

A “death spiral” in an insurance market. Occurs when a large proportion of insurees die unexpectedly. Occurs when bad risks decide not to buy insurance. Occurs when the pool of insurees becomes riskier over time.