We examine the cost-effectiveness of treating epilepsy with anti-epileptic medicines in autistic children, looking at impacts on healthcare providers (in England, Ireland, Italy and Spain) and children's families (in Ireland). We find carbamazepine to be the most cost-effective drug to try first in children with newly diagnosed focal seizures. For…

This paper examines the incidence of the cost burden associated with expanding public health insurance to low-income adults in the context of the Affordable Care Act. Using data from the Medical Expenditures Panel Survey (MEPS), I exploit exogenous variation in Medicaid eligibility rules across states, income groups and time. I find that public…

Poverty and financial insecurity are major drivers of poor health outcomes, but health systems have traditionally lacked the tools to address these economic drivers of health. In recent years, an innovative clinical care model is starting to change that: Medical-Financial Partnerships (MFPs). Medical-Financial Partnerships are collaborations…

Health care reform tops the list of issues that voters consider important going into the 2020 elections. As health professionals, it is imperative that we not only become informed about this issue but also help shape our healthcare future. Based on a review of the health service and health policy literature, we address several myths that add to…

Autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are associated with high services use, but European data on costs are scarce. Utilisation and annual costs of 385 individuals with ASD (aged 4-67 years; 18.2% females; 37.4% IQ < 85) from German outpatient clinics were assessed. Average annual costs per person were 3287 EUR, with psychiatric inpatient care…

Several states have invested in 1915(c) Home and Community Based Service (HCBS) Medicaid policies to improve outcomes and reduce costs for children and youth with significant behavioral health needs, or Severe Emotional Disturbance (SED). However, little is known about these programs and the children they serve. Through a retrospective…

Before COVID-19 entered our lives, colleges and universities were already facing enormous pressures on their bottom lines. Sixty percent of higher education institutions (HEIs) missed their fall 2019 enrollment goals, according to a recent "Chronicle of Higher Education" story. Changing demographics and drops in international enrollments…

Research has shown that student loan borrowers in repayment exhibit physical and mental health problems. These can be exacerbated by and contribute to health-related financial hardship. We use the 2015 U.S. National Financial Capability Study to examine the likelihood of having past due medical bills and of avoiding health care services by not…

Autism is associated with a range of costs. This paper reviews the literature on estimating the economic costs of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). More or less 50 papers covering multiple countries (US, UK, Australia, Canada, Sweden, the Netherlands, etc.) were analysed. Six types of costs are discussed in depth: (i) medical and healthcare service…

'Public health' investigates the determinants of health, born during the Enlightenment in the seventeenth/eighteenth century. But 'public health' is also policies, aiming at the improvement of a population's health. There is a mutual interchange between public health as science and as politics. A brief historical background is followed by an…

This study aimed to determine associations of healthcare access problems with services use among US children with autism spectrum disorder. We analyzed 2011-2014 National Health Interview Survey data on 651 children with autism spectrum disorder aged 2-17 years. There were three measures of healthcare access problems: (1) delays accessing…

Health disparities are documented between adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) and neurotypical peers. As progress has been slow in improving health outcomes in people with IDD, the aim of this retrospective study was to compare effectiveness of a new Cross-Systems Care Integration (CSCI) model of care coordination to…

While it could be argued that musicians have been long conditioned to the current Volatile, Uncertain, Complex and Ambiguous (VUCA) global environment, it appears the recent challenges are testing even the most resilient and adaptable, causing one to question future professional sustainability. The methodological practice of Strategic Foresight…

Few US estimates of the economic burden of autism spectrum disorders (ASD) are available and none provide estimates for 2015 and 2025. We forecast annual direct medical, direct non-medical, and productivity costs combined will be $268 billion (range $162-$367 billion; 0.884-2.009% of GDP) for 2015 and $461 billion (range $276-$1011 billion;…

Health care is one of the economy's biggest industries, so it is natural that the health care industry should play some role in the teaching of introductory economics. There are many ways that health care can appear in such a context: in the teaching of microeconomics, as a macroeconomic issue, to learn about social welfare, and even to learn how…