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Policy options to contain healthcare costs: a review and classification

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  • Stadhouders, Niek
  • Koolman, Xander
  • Tanke, Marit
  • Maarse, Hans
  • Jeurissen, Patrick

Abstract

Containing health care costs has been a challenge for most OECD member states. We classify 2250 cost containment policies in forty-one groups of policy options. This conceptual framework might act as a toolkit for policymakers that seek to develop strategies for cost control; and for researchers that seek to evaluate them. We found that certain important cost drivers such as wages and capital are being sparsely covered. We distinguish four primary targets to contain costs: volume controls, price controls, budgeting and market oriented policies. Price controls and budgeting, both seen as relatively effective, appear substantially less often in literature than volume controls and market oriented policies. The relative use of each option hardly changed over time, although the health system type did matter. Market oriented policies were more likely to be suggested for countries with public provision of health care, as well as for the US system. In contrast, budgeting policy proposals were more likely to be suggested for countries with market provision systems, such as Canada, Germany and France. Implementation of cost containment policies could lead to convergence of health care systems, except for the US system, if policies are implemented based on the literature.

Suggested Citation

  • Stadhouders, Niek & Koolman, Xander & Tanke, Marit & Maarse, Hans & Jeurissen, Patrick, 2016. "Policy options to contain healthcare costs: a review and classification," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(5), pages 486-494.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:hepoli:v:120:y:2016:i:5:p:486-494
    DOI: 10.1016/j.healthpol.2016.03.007
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Vogler, Sabine & Zimmermann, Nina & de Joncheere, Kees, 2016. "Policy interventions related to medicines: Survey of measures taken in European countries during 2010–2015," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 120(12), pages 1363-1377.
    2. Rotteveel, Adriënne H. & Lambooij, Mattijs S. & van Exel, Job & de Wit, G. Ardine, 2022. "To what extent do citizens support the disinvestment of healthcare interventions? An exploration of the support for four viewpoints on active disinvestment in the Netherlands," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 293(C).
    3. Mohit Goswami & Yash Daultani & Sanjoy Kumar Paul & Saurabh Pratap, 2023. "A framework for the estimation of treatment costs of cardiovascular conditions in the presence of disease transition," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 328(1), pages 577-616, September.
    4. Mills, Mackenzie & Kanavos, Panos, 2020. "Do pharmaceutical budgets deliver financial sustainability in healthcare? Evidence from Europe," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 124(3), pages 239-251.
    5. Van der Aa, Maartje J. & Paulus, Aggie T.G. & Klosse, Saskia & Evers, Silvia M.A.A. & Maarse, Johannes A. M., 2019. "The impact of reforms of national health insurance on solidarity in the Netherlands: comparing health care insurance and long-term care insurance," LSE Research Online Documents on Economics 106225, London School of Economics and Political Science, LSE Library.
    6. Stadhouders, Niek & Kruse, Florien & Tanke, Marit & Koolman, Xander & Jeurissen, Patrick, 2019. "Effective healthcare cost-containment policies: A systematic review," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 123(1), pages 71-79.

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