Patient cost sharing and prescription drug trends: Evidence from Japan
Previous research has documented that as patient cost sharing decreases, patients’ demand for and spending on health care services, including prescription drugs, increase. However, evidence is limited about whether there are heterogeneous effects by patient sex and type of prescription drug treatment (e.g., cardiovascular drugs, antibiotics, vitamins, etc.).
Guest speaker Dr Tatyana Avilova studies this question in the context of the Japanese health care system, where universal access to most health care services at standardised prices and the age-dependent patient cost sharing scheme address the challenges of conducting this research in other settings.
She finds that for the whole sample, price elasticity for spending is comparable to previous estimates of price elasticity of spending for general medical services. While there is no heterogeneity in spending between women and men across all drugs, she finds statistically significant differences by sex for select drug types. Furthermore, evidence suggests that spending increases through either more patients beginning treatment or existing patients using more prescription drugs, but not through existing patients switching to more expensive medications.
Speaker Profile
Dr Tatyana Avilova, Research Fellow, University of Tokyo
Dr Avilova is a Research Associate at the Institute of Social Science at the University of Tokyo. Her research has looked at the impact of price changes on prescription drug use, the effect of opioid regulations and nudges to doctors on prescribing and patient outcomes, and the work-life balance of health care workers.
She has also worked with several initiatives to improve diversity in economics, including the Undergraduate Women in Economics (UWE) Challenge, the CORE Project, and the Diverse Economics Conference at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
Dr Avilova received her PhD in Economics from Columbia University. This autumn, she will be starting as an assistant professor at the Department of Economics at Bowdoin College in the United States.
Weekly seminar series
As part of our Centre's vibrant research culture, we host a weekly seminar series. Visiting and invited researchers present current research relating to the economics of health and wellbeing, and the healthcare sector. Visitors are welcome to join these sessions where discussion and debate is encouraged.
For further information on our seminar series, please contact shannon.stanwell@monash.edu
Event Details
- Date:
- 26 April 2023 at 12:00 pm – 1:00 pm
- Venue:
- In-person at Caulfield campus, Building H, Level 9, Room H9.21
- Categories:
- CHE Seminar; Health Economics
Description
Previous research has documented that as patient cost sharing decreases, patients’ demand for and spending on health care services, including prescription drugs, increase. However, evidence is limited about whether there are heterogeneous effects by patient sex and type of prescription drug treatment (e.g., cardiovascular drugs, antibiotics, vitamins, etc.).
Guest speaker Dr Tatyana Avilova studies this question in the context of the Japanese health care system, where universal access to most health care services at standardised prices and the age-dependent patient cost sharing scheme address the challenges of conducting this research in other settings.
She finds that for the whole sample, price elasticity for spending is comparable to previous estimates of price elasticity of spending for general medical services. While there is no heterogeneity in spending between women and men across all drugs, she finds statistically significant differences by sex for select drug types. Furthermore, evidence suggests that spending increases through either more patients beginning treatment or existing patients using more prescription drugs, but not through existing patients switching to more expensive medications.
Speaker Profile
Dr Tatyana Avilova, Research Fellow, University of Tokyo
Dr Avilova is a Research Associate at the Institute of Social Science at the University of Tokyo. Her research has looked at the impact of price changes on prescription drug use, the effect of opioid regulations and nudges to doctors on prescribing and patient outcomes, and the work-life balance of health care workers.
She has also worked with several initiatives to improve diversity in economics, including the Undergraduate Women in Economics (UWE) Challenge, the CORE Project, and the Diverse Economics Conference at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond.
Dr Avilova received her PhD in Economics from Columbia University. This autumn, she will be starting as an assistant professor at the Department of Economics at Bowdoin College in the United States.
Weekly seminar series
As part of our Centre's vibrant research culture, we host a weekly seminar series. Visiting and invited researchers present current research relating to the economics of health and wellbeing, and the healthcare sector. Visitors are welcome to join these sessions where discussion and debate is encouraged.
For further information on our seminar series, please contact shannon.stanwell@monash.edu