Socioeconomic Inequality of Access to Healthcare: Does Patients' Choice Explain the Gradient? Evidence from the English NHS
Giuseppe Moscelli,
Luigi Siciliani,
Nils Gutacker (nils.gutacker@york.ac.uk) and
Richard Cookson
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Richard Cookson: Centre for Health Economics, University of York, UK
No 112cherp, Working Papers from Centre for Health Economics, University of York
Abstract:
Equity of access is a key policy objective in publicly-funded healthcare systems. Using data on patients undergoing non-emergency heart revascularization procedures in the English National Health Service, we find evidence of significant differences in waiting times within public hospitals between patients with different socioeconomic status (up to 35% difference between the most and least deprived population quintiles). We employ selection models to test whether such differences are explained by patients exercising choice over hospital or type of treatment. Selection bias due to choice has a limited effect on the gradient suggesting the presence of substantial inequities within the public system.
Keywords: waiting times; inequalities; socioeconomic status; selection bias; choice. (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C34 I11 I14 I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Pages: 43 pages
Date: 2015-06
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-eur and nep-hea
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (5)
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http://www.york.ac.uk/media/che/documents/papers/r ... ccess_healthcare.pdf First version, 2015 (application/pdf)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:chy:respap:112cherp
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