Scandinavian Working Papers in Economics
Working Papers in Economics,
University of Bergen, Department of Economics
No 08/09: Norwegian priority guidelines: Estimating the distributional implications across age, gender and SES
Fredrik Carlsen () and Oddvar Kaarbøe ()
Additional contact information
Fredrik Carlsen: Norges teknisk-naturvitenskapelige universitet, Postal: Department of Economics, Norwegian university of science and technology, NO-7491 Trondheim, Norway
Oddvar Kaarbøe: University of Bergen, Postal: Department of Economics, Fosswinckelsgt. 14, 5007 Bergen, Norway
Abstract: Objective: Targeting hospital treatment at patients with high priority would seem to be a natural policy response to the growing gap between what can be done and what can be financed in the specialist health care sector. The paper examines the distributionalconsequences of this policy. Method: 450 000 elective patients are allocated to priority groups on the basis of medical guidelines developed by one of the regional health authorities in Norway. Probit models are estimated explaining priority status as a function of age, gender and socioeconomic status. Results: Women and older people are overrepresented among patients with low priority. Conditional on age, women with low priority have lower income and less education than women with high priority. Among men below 50 years, patients with low priority have less education than patients with high priority. Conclusion: Targeting hospital treatment at patients with high priority, though sensible from a pure medical perspective, may have undesirable distributional consequences.
Keywords: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
22 pages, October 1, 2009
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