The reliability of the product sold under a warranty is usually maintained by the manufacturer during the warranty period. After the expiry of the warranty, however, the consumer confronts a problem about how to maint...The reliability of the product sold under a warranty is usually maintained by the manufacturer during the warranty period. After the expiry of the warranty, however, the consumer confronts a problem about how to maintain the reliability of the product. This paper proposes, from the consumer's perspective, a replacement policy after the extended warranty, under the assumption that the product is sold under the renewable free replacement warranty (RFRW) policy in which the replacement is dependent on the repair-cost threshold. The proposed replacement policy is the replacement after the extended warranty is performed by the consumer based on the repair-cost threshold or preventive replacement (PR) age, which are decision variables. The expected cost rate model is derived from the consumer's perspective. The existence and uniqueness of the optimal solution that minimizes the expected cost rate per unit time are offered. Finally, a numerical example is presented to exemplify the proposed model.展开更多
Background: Community-based health insurance (CBHI) schemes are increasingly implemented in low-income settings. These schemes limit the coverage they offer both by the types of care considered, and by applying thresh...Background: Community-based health insurance (CBHI) schemes are increasingly implemented in low-income settings. These schemes limit the coverage they offer both by the types of care considered, and by applying thresholds and/or caps to costs reimbursed. The consequences of these thresholds and/or caps on insurance coverage have hitherto been usually ignored, for lack of data on the distributions of healthcare costs or understanding of their impact on effective coverage levels. This article describes a theoretical model to obtain the distributions even without data collection in the field, and demonstrates the quantitative impact of thresholds and/or caps on claim reimbursements. Methods: This model applies to applications on healthcare expenditures in low-income settings, following research methods examined in the Western world. We looked at hospitalizations and tests;we compared the simulated distributions to empirical data obtained through 11 household surveys conducted between 2008 and 2010 in rural locations (9 in India and 2 in Nepal). Results: We found that the shape of the distributions was very similar in all locations for both benefits, and could be represented by a model based on a lognormal distribution. The agreement between theoretical and empirical results was satisfactory (mostly within 10% difference). Conclusions: The model makes it possible to simulate the expected performance of the CBHI (represented by the percentage of costs or bills covered). The aim is to match costs with local levels of willingness-to-pay for health insurance. This model makes it possible to determine at the stage of package-design the optimal levels of thresholds and/or caps for each benefit-type included.展开更多
基金supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(7147114771631001)+1 种基金the Basic Research Project of Natural Science in Shaanxi Province(2015JQ7273)the 111 Project(B13044)
文摘The reliability of the product sold under a warranty is usually maintained by the manufacturer during the warranty period. After the expiry of the warranty, however, the consumer confronts a problem about how to maintain the reliability of the product. This paper proposes, from the consumer's perspective, a replacement policy after the extended warranty, under the assumption that the product is sold under the renewable free replacement warranty (RFRW) policy in which the replacement is dependent on the repair-cost threshold. The proposed replacement policy is the replacement after the extended warranty is performed by the consumer based on the repair-cost threshold or preventive replacement (PR) age, which are decision variables. The expected cost rate model is derived from the consumer's perspective. The existence and uniqueness of the optimal solution that minimizes the expected cost rate per unit time are offered. Finally, a numerical example is presented to exemplify the proposed model.
文摘Background: Community-based health insurance (CBHI) schemes are increasingly implemented in low-income settings. These schemes limit the coverage they offer both by the types of care considered, and by applying thresholds and/or caps to costs reimbursed. The consequences of these thresholds and/or caps on insurance coverage have hitherto been usually ignored, for lack of data on the distributions of healthcare costs or understanding of their impact on effective coverage levels. This article describes a theoretical model to obtain the distributions even without data collection in the field, and demonstrates the quantitative impact of thresholds and/or caps on claim reimbursements. Methods: This model applies to applications on healthcare expenditures in low-income settings, following research methods examined in the Western world. We looked at hospitalizations and tests;we compared the simulated distributions to empirical data obtained through 11 household surveys conducted between 2008 and 2010 in rural locations (9 in India and 2 in Nepal). Results: We found that the shape of the distributions was very similar in all locations for both benefits, and could be represented by a model based on a lognormal distribution. The agreement between theoretical and empirical results was satisfactory (mostly within 10% difference). Conclusions: The model makes it possible to simulate the expected performance of the CBHI (represented by the percentage of costs or bills covered). The aim is to match costs with local levels of willingness-to-pay for health insurance. This model makes it possible to determine at the stage of package-design the optimal levels of thresholds and/or caps for each benefit-type included.