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Informal caregivers are people providing some type of unpaid, ongoing assistance to a person with a chronic illness or disability. Long-term care measures and policies cannot take place without taking into account the quantitatively crucial role played by informal caregivers. We use the European Health Interview Survey (EHIS), the European Quality of Life Survey (EQLS), and the Study on Health and Ageing in Europe (SHARE) to measure the prevalence of informal caregivers in the European population, and analyze associated socio-demographic factors. This rate ranges between about 13 percent in Portugal and Spain, and more than 22 percent in Luxembourg, Belgium, and Denmark. It declines in older age groups and, on average, is lower in men than in women in all countries studied, and lower among the poorly educated compared to those with higher levels of education. However, large variance was observed in the average share of informal caregivers for most countries between the three surveys. Our findings, estimated through the three surveys, reveal common trends, but also a series of disparities. Additional research will be needed to enable policy makers to access a richer and more harmonized body of data, allowing them to adopt truly evidence-based and targeted policies and interventions in this field.

תקציר בעברית: בשנת 1998 ניתן פסק דינו של בית המשפט העליון בעניין א.ש.י.ר., בו נקבע כי דיני הקניין הרוחני אינם יוצרים, באופן עקרוני, "הסדר שלילי", כך שניתן לעיתים לזכות בסעד מכוח דיני עשיית עושר ולא במשפט בגין חיקוי תוצר רוחני גם כאשר לא מתקיימת הפרה של זכות קניין רוחני ספציפית. פסק הדין תואר כפסק דין דרמטי, ועורר ביקורת רבה. בפרט, הובע חשש כי ההלכה שנקבעה בו תוביל להרחבה בלתי מוצדקת של זכויות הקניין הרוחני ותיצור אפקט מצנן בתחום החדשנות. מאז מתן פסק הדין נשמעו קריאות רבות לביטול ההלכה, לרבות מצד היועץ המשפטי לממשלה בעמדה שהוגשה לאחרונה לבית המשפט העליון. מחקר זה מבקש להעריך באופן אמפירי את השלכותיה של הלכת א.ש.י.ר., באמצעות בחינה דו שלבית, כמותית ואיכותית. בשלב הראשון נבחנו כלל ההחלטות של בתי המשפט המחוזיים ובית המשפט העליון שניתנו במהלך עשרים השנים שחלפו מאז א.ש.י.ר, בהם הועלתה טענה לעשיית עושר ולא במשפט בהקשר של תוצרים רוחניים. בשלב השני בוצע ניתוח איכותי של המקרים "דמויי א.ש.י.ר", בהם ניתן סעד מכח עשיית עושר ולא משפט, בהעדר זכות קניין רוחני ספציפית. הממצאים העיקריים העולים מבדיקה זו הם כי בניגוד לתחזיות הקודרות, הלכת א.ש.י.ר., באופן בו יושמה על ידי בתי המשפט, לא גרמה ל"רעידת אדמה" בתחום הקניין הרוחני. מתוך מאות פסקי דין והחלטות שעסקו בקניין רוחני ועשיית עושר ולא במשפט, מסתבר כי המקרים "דמויי א.ש.י.ר" הם מועטים מאוד, וניתן לסווגם לכמה קטגוריות בולטות, שבהן קיים או היה קיים קושי ממשי בדיני הקניין הרוחני, ונדרש גישור בינם לבין המציאות. החשש לפריצת גבולות, שהעסיק את המבקרים, התממש לכל היותר במקרים ספורים. לעומת זאת, ובמקביל, נעשה לאחרונה שימוש מפתיע בדיני עשיית עושר ולא במשפט דווקא כאמצעי להגבלת זכויותיו של בעל הקניין הרוחני ולעידוד התחרות. ממצאים אלה מצביעים על כך שהלכת א.ש.י.ר מהווה בעיקר מכשיר ל"כיול" הדין ולמילוי פערים בהקשרים בהם נדרשים גמישות או גישור בין החוק לבין המציאות הדינאמית, ואינה פוגעת פגיעה קשה באיזונים שנקבעו על ידי המחוקק בתחום הקניין הרוחני. הדבר מחייב הערכה מחודשת של הקריאות לביטול ההלכה. English Abstract: In 1998, in the landmark case of A.SH.I.R., the Israeli Supreme Court ruled that the law of unjust enrichment applies alongside intellectual property law. Thus, a plaintiff can seek recovery against an imitator based on unjust enrichment even in the absence of a valid intellectual property claim. The judgement was described as a dramatic development in Israeli private law and triggered much controversy. One of the major concerns was that the ruling would result in an unjustified, indirect, expansion of intellectual property rights, beyond their recognized statutory limitations, and would yield a chilling effect in the field of innovation. Accordingly, there were numerous proposals to overrule the decision, including in a recent Attorney General position submitted to the Supreme Court. This study seeks to empirically evaluate the implications of A.SH.I.R., after the lapse of twenty years from the original decision. We first perform a quantitative analysis, and examine all Supreme Court and District Courts’ decisions rendered during the twenty years period, where an unjust enrichment claim was raised with respect to imitation of intellectual products. We then proceed to a qualitative analysis, focusing on "A.SH.I.R.-like" cases, where the unjust enrichment claim was upheld, despite the absence of intellectual property protection. We find that, contrary to the gloomy predictions, the A.SH.I.R. case, as applied by the courts, did not cause an upheaval in the field of intellectual property. Out of more than four-hundred decisions concerning intellectual property and unjust enrichment, the number of decisions where the unjust enrichment claim was upheld despite the absence of a specific IP right is very low. Moreover, these cases can be classified into several distinct categories, where there was a noticeable shortcoming in the Israeli intellectual property landscape. The major concern voiced by the critics, that courts would unduly expand the boundaries of intellectual property protection through unjust enrichment, was only observed in two or three cases. On the other hand, the law of unjust enrichment was recently used by one court in a ‘reverse’ manner, as a means to restrict intellectual property rights and promote competition. We discuss these findings against the notions of certainty, flexibility, and unintended consequences, and conclude that they necessitate a reevaluation of the calls to overrule the A.SH.I.R. decision.

The paper explores differences in human capital between the Israel-born and immigrants within the Jorgenson and Fraumeni model. Using a unique ‘imputed education’ method, the study answers whether ...

Background The study documents a direct relationship between individuals’ health and patterns of healthcare expenditure by isolating single-person households and creating a new reference group in which household healthcare expenditure is based on one person’s expenditure patterns in accordance with his or her own state of health. Method The study matched two surveys using Propensity Score Matching based on single-person household, age, and gender. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) explores paths of relation between the population’s income and socioeconomic level and its health self-assessment and expenditure. Results Single-person households’ health expenditure increases with age and the differences in most expenditure categories are significant. The current study looks into the direct and indirect effects of income, gender, and SES on health insurance and other out-of-pocket health expenses among single-person households. A direct link exists between income, gender, and socioeconomic status (SES) and several aspects of health expenditure, depending on the specific age group. The indirect effects are attested via health status assessment, in which a negative correlation is found between self-assessed health status and various health-expenditure categories. Conclusions The last-mentioned result may support the general perception that single-person households who feel that they are doing better than their near-equals enjoy better health. This line of inquiry yields a better examination of how a single-person household’s state of health affects expenditure patterns without assuming ab initio that expenditure patterns attest to state of health.

Honest communication between oncologists and patients is important in alleviating the financial burden of cancer care. This study explored patient–relative–oncologist communication regarding the affordability of out-of-pocket (OOP) medication and the extent to which this communication addresses itself to the families’ financial burden. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among primary caregivers of deceased cancer patients. About 43% of relatives said that they and/or the patients had paid out of pocket for medications during the last six months of the patient’s life. Most (73%) oncologists suggested an OOP medication without asking about financial ability, 43% hardly explained the advantages of an OOP medication, and 52% hardly explained any treatment alternatives. Older age and female gender were related to less communication about an OOP medication, and better education, greater affluence, and having private health insurance were related to more communication. About 56% of relatives said that OOP payment for medications inflicted a very heavy or heavy financial burden on patients and their households. Physicians’ interest in financial ability and giving explanation lightened the burden. Given the difficulty of explaining the complex interactions of cost and clinical outcomes, oncologists need to be better educated in skills that would enable them to communicate costs more openly and should consider the cost of a treatment when prescribing it.

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to extract the optimal time allocation of weekly hours among work, sleep, sports, and internet use for 16 different demographic groups.Design/methodology/approachThe agent wishes to minimize the gap between his or her actual and optimal allocation for each activity. His or her actual allocation of time for each activity is affected by his or her allocations for other activities and by exogenous variables. A system of simultaneous equations is constructed, with the four levels of time allocation as the endogenous variables. Using a cross-section database of 928 Israel residents, the authors estimate the system and predict the actual allocation of time. Inserting the forecast equations into the agents’ target function and differentiating by each actual time allocation, the authors extract the optimal time allocation for 16 different demographic groups.FindingsThe results make it clear that the optimal desired level of sleep hours is highest among married Jews and non-Jews of both genders, whereas the desired level of work hours is highest among female non-Jews whose children have a computer and among married males, Jewish and non-Jewish alike. Female Jews and non-Jews wish to allocate the most hours to internet use, while married males of both nationalities wish to allocate the fewest. The desired level of sports hours is highest among married and non-married Jews. Examining the effect of age on time allocation, the main findings show a very significant cutback in allocation of hours for sleep among agents at age 20.8 and an increase of about 2.5 hours of sleep among agents aged 60.8, both relative to those aged 40.8.Originality/valueThe original model presented here brings a non-traditional approach to the analysis of time allocation. The authors believe that each agent wishes that he or she could allocate his or her time for personal benefit on the basis of a theoretical apportionment determined on the basis of experience and tendencies. Even though an agent’s actual time allocation may be affected by many factors, he or she still has a sense of disutility when the actual allocation deviates from selected optimum.

Self-employment allows individuals to extend their working lives instead of accepting forced retirement. This study examines transitions to self-employment after age 50 but before retirement age. The study is based on data from Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), in which 16,412 people from 18 countries contributed 24,583 observations. Multilevel analyses were used; the data were pooled into one dataset, in which individuals (first-level variables) were nested within countries (second-level variables). The results reveal that few employees choose to switch to self-employment between age 50 and retirement. Characteristics such as health limitations, marital status, and national unemployment rates affect these employees’ decisions to become self-employed. Given the wage gaps between salaried employees and self-employed and the few employment opportunities available to salaried employees after they reach the official retirement age, the transition to self-employment is a solution for those who need sources of income or wish to remain active after retirement age.

Background The latest statistics on household size in the EU show that in 2017 around one third of households in the EU comprised single adults without children. The study documents a direct relationship between individuals’ health and patterns of healthcare expenditure by isolating single-person households and creating a new reference group in which household healthcare expenditure is based on one person’s expenditure patterns in accordance with his or her own state of health. Methods The study matched two surveys using Propensity Score Matching based on single-person household, age, and gender. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) explores paths of relation between the population’s income and socioeconomic level and its health self-assessment and expenditure. Results Single-person households’ health expenditure increases with age and the differences in most expenditure categories are significant. The current study looks into the direct and indirect effects of income, gender, and SES on health insurance and other out-of-pocket health expenses among single-person households. A direct link exists between income, gender, and socioeconomic status (SES) and several aspects of health expenditure, depending on the specific age group. The indirect effects are attested via health status assessment, in which a negative correlation is found between self-assessed health status and various health-expenditure categories. Conclusions The last-mentioned result may support the general perception that single-person households who feel that they are doing better than their near-equals enjoy better health. This line of inquiry yields a better examination of how a single-person household’s state of health affects expenditure patterns without assuming ab initio that expenditure patterns attest to state of health. Key messages Healthcare system and policymakers have to be mindful of the profile of single-person households and should ensure to examine these households’ patterns of healthcare expenditure as a function of age. Policymakers should seek alternative sources of funding for the single-person households’ health-insurance outlays and should examine alternative ways of restraining their expenditure on dental care.

Background In July 2013, Israel was swept with fear of a polio outbreak. In response to the importation of wild polio virus, the Ministry decided to take preventive action by administering oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) to all children born after 1 January 2004 who had received at least one dose of inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) in the past. This study analyzes the vaccination uptake rates resulting from the mass polio vaccination campaign on the basis of health inequality parameters of socioeconomic status (SES), principles of solidarity, and the Gini inequality index. The research explores understanding the value of the Gini inequality index within the context of SES and solidarity. Methods The study is based on data gathered from the Israeli Ministry of Health’s administrative records from mother-and-child clinics across Israel. The research population is comprised of resident infants and children whom the Ministry of Health defined as eligible for the OPV between August and December 2013. Results The higher the SES level of the area where the mother-and-child clinic is located, the lower the OPV vaccination uptake is. The greater the income inequality is in the municipality where the mother-and-child clinic is situated, the lower the vaccination uptake. As time passed in the vaccination campaign, vaccination uptake increased regardless of the location of the mother-and-child clinics. The highest vaccination uptake rate was found among populations of low SES and low Gini inequality index. The lowest vaccination uptake rate was found among populations of high SES/high Gini inequality index. Conclusions Public health professionals promoting vaccine programs need to make specially-designed efforts both in localities with high average income and in localities with a high level of income diversity/inequality. Such practice will better utilize funds, resources, and manpower dedicated to increasing vaccination uptake across varying populations and communities. Key messages The higher the SES in municipalities with mother-and-child clinics, the less likely children were to be vaccinated. The lower the Gini inequality index, there is a higher polio vaccination uptake among of children.

Background It is a common custom to visit patients in hospital. Visitors often bring along outside food products, including some that may not be recommended for the patient. Even so, neither the Ministry of Health nor the hospitals have explicit guidelines in place as to what people can and cannot bring their inpatient friends or kin. The study deals with three main questions: What are the patterns of spending on outside food products for inpatients? What are the types of food products brought for inpatients? How medical professionals view the matter? Methods This quantitative study uses three closed-structured-questionnaire surveys-among visitors, inpatients, and medical staff. Thematic analysis of the findings yields patterns of spending on outside food products for inpatients, the types of food products brought, awareness of the health implications of consuming these products, patterns of consumption among inpatients, and how medical professionals view the matter. Results There are five major findings: (a) Most expenditure on outside food for inpatients occurs in the first few days of hospitalization. (b) Most food brought to inpatients is not defined as healthy. (c) There is a gap between visitors’ awareness of the health implications of bringing food to inpatients and their actual conduct. (d) Most patients realize that the food brought to them is bad for their health but tend to eat it anyway. (e) Medical staff disapproves of bringing food to inpatients. Conclusions Information on the extent of bringing food to inpatients, and the types and nature of what is brought, sheds light on the question of food security among inpatients, with emphasis on the motive behind the (in)correct nutrition. Information about the attitudes of patients, visitors, and medical staff toward the need to continue bringing food sheds light on questions of equality and social justice in inpatient care. Key messages Healthcare services should be more aware of assuring inpatients’ right to correct nutrition in the senses of reducing inpatients’ exposure to externalities that may impede their convalescence. Healthcare services should be more mindful of the advantages of using the egalitarian nutrition system that hospitals operate for all patients.

Background Economic determinants such as socioeconomic inequalities and parents’ employment have a profound impact on the health of adolescents in terms of unhealthy weight-control behaviours (UWCB). In addition, various family factors may play a role in adolescents’ weight-control behaviours (WCB). This study examines the association among socioeconomic status, perceived family wealth, and number of employed parents and Israeli adolescents’ WCB and asks whether family variables (parental communication, monitoring, support, and family meals) mediate WCB. Methods Data from the cross-sectional questionnaire of the 2014 Israeli Health Behaviour in School-Aged Children study are analysed using structural equation modelling. The research population includes approximately 7,000 Israeli schoolchildren in grades 6, 8, and 10. The association among socioeconomic status (SES) factors (SES measures, parental employment), sociodemographic factors, and weight-control behaviours among adolescents is calculated. Results High family affluence and high perceived family wealth are negatively associated with unhealthy weight-control behaviour. Having two employed parents leads to lower levels of UWCB. Family-related variables like family communication and support and parental monitoring are found to mitigate unhealthy weight-control behaviours. Family meals have a significantly positive effect on healthy weight-control behaviour and a significantly negative impact on unhealthy weight-control activities. Conclusions The findings suggest that economic factors such as SES and number of employed parents are necessary strategies for long-term weight-control practice. The combination of WCB and family meals is the most effective method for adolescents’ healthy weight-control behaviour. Key messages The study highlights the importance of considering the quality of family communication and support as a health asset that may contribute to WCB among young people. Family affluence and perceived family wealth, which were two separate measurements, were perceived differently by adolescents.

Background Persons with disabilities face many obstacles in their attempts at social integration, particularly in the labor market. Objective The study investigates patterns of transition among different employment situations by persons with disabilities relative to persons without disabilities. It also studies employment transitions among individuals who hold part-time jobs in relation with their long-term level of physical disability. Methods Probability models that explain transitions in employment status among persons aged 25-54 in dependence of possible changes over time in the severity of their disability. Results Patterns of disability do not persist over time. Improvement of disability does not increase the share of persons employed in both investigation periods as well as the share of those not employed at both times. Unexpectedly, few people who are not employed and whose disabilities improve manage to join the labor market when their disabilities improve. Also, few who are employed part-time and whose disabilities improve managed to switch to larger posts when their disabilities improve. Conclusions The labor market imposes scars on people with disability whose condition improves somewhat, hindering their chances of re-integration into the workforce. To assure them a regular income and employment rehabilitation, public-policy programs should be expanded.

Common fragile sties (CFSs) are regions susceptible to replication stress and are hotspots for chromosomal instability in cancer. Several features characterizing CFSs have been associated with their instability, however, these features are prevalent across the genome and do not account for all known CFSs. Therefore, the molecular mechanism underlying CFS instability remains unclear. Here, we explored the transcriptional profile and temporal order of DNA replication (replication timing, RT) of cells under replication stress conditions. We show that the RT of only a small portion of the genome is affected by replication stress, and that CFSs are enriched for delayed RT. We identified a signature for chromosomal fragility, comprised of replication stress-induced delay in RT of early/mid S-phase replicating regions within actively transcribed large genes. This fragility signature enabled precise mapping of the core fragility region. Furthermore, the signature enabled the identification of novel fragile sites that were not detected cytogenetically, highlighting the improved sensitivity of our approach for identifying fragile sites. Altogether, this study reveals a link between altered DNA replication and transcription of large genes underlying the mechanism of CFS expression. Thus, investigating the RT and transcriptional changes in cancer may contribute to the understanding of mechanisms promoting genomic instability in cancer.

Background In July 2013, Israel was swept with fear of a polio outbreak. In response to the importation of wild polio virus, the Ministry decided to take preventive action by administering oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) to all children born after 1 January 2004 who had received at least one dose of inactivated poliovirus vaccine (IPV) in the past. This study analyzes the vaccination uptake rates resulting from the mass polio vaccination campaign on the basis of health inequality parameters of socioeconomic status (SES), principles of solidarity, and the Gini inequality index. The research explores understanding the value of the Gini inequality index within the context of SES and solidarity. Methods The study is based on data gathered from the Israeli Ministry of Health’s administrative records from mother-and-child clinics across Israel. The research population is comprised of resident infants and children whom the Ministry of Health defined as eligible for the OPV between August and December 2013 (the “campaign period”). The analysis was carried out at the municipality level as well as the statistical area level. Results The higher the SES level of the municipality where the mother-and-child clinic is located, the lower the OPV vaccination uptake is. The greater the income inequality is in the municipality where the mother-and-child clinic is situated, the lower the vaccination uptake. Conclusions Public health professionals promoting vaccine programs need to make specially-designed efforts both in localities with high average income and in localities with a high level of income diversity/inequality. Such practice will better utilize funds, resources, and manpower dedicated to increasing vaccination uptake across varying populations and communities.

Joint pain is a common experience among adults aged 65 and over. Although pain management is multifaceted, medication is essential in it. The paper examines the use of medication among older adults with joint pain in Israel and asks whether socioeconomic factors are associated with this usage. The data, harvested, from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE), include 1,294 randomly selected community-dwelling individuals aged 65 and over in Israel. Bivariate analysis and logistic regression are used to identify factors associated with the presence of joint pain medication use. About 38% of respondents report experiencing joint pain and 45% of those who so report are not taking prescription medication. Back pain is the most common location, reported by 64% of individuals who report joint pain. Taking medication is independently associated with younger age (OR = 0.965, 95% CI = 0.939-0.991), more education (OR = 1.044, 95% CI = 0.998-1.091), and better ability to cope economically (OR = 1.964, 95% CI = 1.314-2.936). However, older age and ability to cope economically are independently associated with women (OR = 0.964, 95% CI = 0.932-0.998 and OR = 2.438, 95% CI = 1.474-4.032, respectively) but not with men. It is suggested that socioeconomic inequality exists in healthcare access among adults aged 65 and over. Since income and gender are strongly associated with taking pain medication, physicians should follow-up on women and less affluent people to ensure that medication prescribed has been obtained. Policymakers should consider programs that would facilitate better access to pain medication among vulnerable older individuals.

Background The experience of musculoskeletal pain is widespread among adults and entails high costs to both individuals and society. Few studies look at disparities in pain management. Aims To examine factors associated with the presence of musculoskeletal pain and the use of pain medication use among individuals aged 50+. Design Cross-sectional analysis of data from the SHARE. Participants 64,281 community-dwelling individuals in 15 European countries and Israel. Methods Bivariate analysis and logistic regression were used to identify factors associated with the presence of musculoskeletal pain and pain medication use. Results Among our population, the prevalence of musculoskeletal pain at the time of the survey was 40.1%. Women had more pain than men (odds ratio [OR] = 1.477, confidence interval [CI] = 1.428-1.528), those who were 60-69 years old had less pain than younger individuals (OR = 0.927, CI = 0.883-0.973), whereas those who were 80+ years old had more pain than younger individuals (OR = 1.280, CI = 1.199-1.367). About 50% of those with musculoskeletal pain take no medication to manage it. Predictors of pain medication use include male sex (OR = 1.468, CI = 1.389-1.553), more education (OR = 1.034, CI = 1.023-1.041), and better ability to cope economically (OR = 1.446, CI = 1.368-1.527). Those over 70 are less likely than younger individuals to be taking medication to manage their pain (70-79: OR = 0.822, CI = 0.761-0.887), (80+: OR = 0.619, CI = 0.566-0.677). Conclusions Nurses should be aware of the association of education and income with pain-medication use, which suggests that pain medication use is less accessible to those with fewer resources. Pain is a significant public-health problem, and access to medicine deserves attention from nurses, healthcare workers and policymakers.

This Article posits that intellectual property law should accommodate consumers’ right to repair their products. In recent years, there has been a growing push towards state legislation that would provide consumers with a “right to repair” their products. Currently 18 states have pending legislation that would require product manufacturers to make available replacement parts and repair manuals. Unfortunately, though, this legislation has stalled in many of the states. Manufacturers have been lobbying the legislatures to stop the enactment of these repair laws based on different concerns, including how these laws may impinge on their intellectual property rights. Indeed, a right to repair may not be easily reconcilable with the United States’ far-reaching intellectual property rights regime. For example, requiring manufacturers to release repair manuals could implicate a whole host of intellectual property laws, including trade secret. Similarly, employing measures undercutting a manufacturer's control of the market for replacement parts might conflict with patent exclusivity. Nonetheless, this Article holds that intellectual property laws should not be used to inhibit the right to repair from being fully implemented. In support of this claim, this Article develops a theoretical framework that justifies the right to repair in a manner that is consistent with intellectual property protection. Based on this theoretical foundation, this Article then explores, for the first time, the various intellectual property rules and doctrines that may be implicated in the context of the current repair movement. As part of this analysis, this Article identifies areas where intellectual property rights could prevent repair laws from being fully realized, even if some of the states pass the legislation, and recommends certain reforms that are necessary to accommodate the need for a right to repair and enable it to take hold.

The Israel Ministry of Health enacted regulations that aim to reduce private expenditure on healthcare services and mitigate social inequality. According to the modified rules, which went into effect in the second half of 2016, patients who undergo surgery in a private hospital and are covered by their healthcare provider’s supplemental insurance (SI) make only a basic co-payment. The modified regulations limited the option of self-payment for advanced devices not covered by national health basket, meaning that patients for whom such devices are indicated had to pay privately for the entire procedure. These regulations applied to all medical and surgical devices not covered by national health insurance (NHI). Toric intraocular lenses (IOLs) are a case in point. These advanced lenses are implanted during cataract surgery to correct corneal astigmatism and, in indicated cases, obviate the need for complex eyeglasses postoperatively. Toric IOL implantation has been shown to be highly cost-effective in both economic and quality-of-life terms. Limitations of the use of these advanced IOLs threatened to increase social inequality. In 2017, further adjustments of the regulations were made which enabled supplemental charges for these advanced IOLs, performed through the SI programs of the healthcare medical organizations (HMOs). Allowing additional payment for these lenses at a fixed pre-set price made it possible to apply a supplemental part of the insurance package to the surgery itself. In mid 2018 these IOLs were included without budget in the national health basket, allowing for self-payment for the additional cost in addition to the basic coverage for all patients with NHI. This case study suggests that, in their efforts to enhance health care equity, policymakers may benefit if exercising due caution when limiting the extent to which SI programs can charge co-payments. This is because, when a service or product is not available via the basic NHI benefits package, limiting SI co-payments can sometimes result in a boomerang effect - leading to an increase in inequality rather than the sought-after decrease in inequality.

The present study aimed to assess dementia caregivers’ reports of the prevalence and correlates of forgone care regarding visits to a general practitioner (GP) and to a specialist during the COVID-19 lockdown in Israel, using Andersen’s Behavioral Model of Healthcare Utilization. A cross-sectional study using an online survey was conducted with 73 Israeli family caregivers of persons with dementia residing in the community (81% Jews, 86% female, mean age = 54). Overall, one out of two participants reported having to delay seeking needed help from a GP or a specialist for themselves, as well as for their relatives with dementia, during the COVID-19 lockdown period. Among the predisposing factor, education was associated with caregivers’ reports regarding forgone care for themselves as well as for their loved ones. Living with the care-receiver and income level were the enabling factors associated with forgone care for caregivers. Finally, feelings of burden were associated with caregivers’ forgone care and feelings of loneliness and perceptions of the care-receiver’s cognitive functioning were associated with care-receivers’ forgone care. Our findings show that it is essential that this population receive appropriate practical and emotional support at times of distress and crisis to enable them to continue with their caregiving role.

We examine the effect of the first-degree students’ employment on the prolongation of their studies. When employing a popular instrumental variable, the regional unemployment rate, we find a negative impact of students’ employment on duration of studies. Then, adding a predetermined IV – the individual’s employment prior to the beginning of academic studies – turns the estimate positive. Furthermore, we find that the relationship between the extent of students’ employment and duration of their studies depends on their age: among the younger students (aged 22–26), the extent of employment has no effect on the duration of studies, while among the older students, the effect is positive and statistically significant.

Overeducation has been researched extensively for nearly three decades, but some major issues in regard to it are still topics of ongoing debate. By using a panel data, that combines a survey of two cohorts of Israeli first-degree holders and data from administrative sources on jobs and wages, we examine the contribution of job turnover, cognitive abilities and continuing graduate studies to the likelihood of overeducation and wage dynamics. The study produces four main findings. First, rapid job-switching makes a negative contribution to the increase in employee’s wage and there is a negative correlation between two variables – an employee’s tenure and the number of past employers in the years after the completion of degree studies – and the probability of being overeducated. Second, the contribution of the individual’s cognitive abilities and quantitative reasoning skills to the likelihood of becoming overeducated is negative. Third, the wages of overeducated employees are some 11% lower and ris...

Palestinian uprising, ‘intifada’, aggravated the recession of 2001–2004 in Israel which dampened demand for labor in all industries except security services. We use this exogenous shock to study whether a cohort of young men who were attached to temporary jobs as security guards for unusually long periods of time during the intifada landed on an inferior career path, as compared to security guards from a pre-intifada cohort. We find that the intifada cohort had less employment mobility, were ultimately less connected with the labor market, and earned less on jobs after the security services, relatively to the pre-intifada cohort.

This paper focused on estimating the participation rate of care giving to elders. We used a theoretical model frame that was in common use for analyzing activity in the labor market and adjusted it for analyzing the care giving rate in elders. Using data of the rate of start taking care and the rate of end taking care in elders from the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe we evaluated the rate of "caregivers" in whole population at age over 50 and among males, females, people in labor force and out of labor force. According to our results, the lowest care rate is among men 16.8%, and the highest is among females 18.88%, while for whole population at age over 50, the care rate is 18.2%. According to our findings, there is a very high end of care rate from treatment in all population groups, pointing to the existence of a very large substitution among caregivers, mainly among people not in labor force (76.2%).

Owners’ valuations of dwelling prices are central in the construction of price indices and households’ economic behavior. We analyze the variation of the self-reported valuation bias over the distribution of dwelling sale prices, using a dataset of observations from a Household Expenditure Survey merged with the national sample of housing sale transactions by census tract. We find that self-reported estimates of dwelling values are, on average, 20% higher than the mean market prices of houses in the corresponding census tracts. Estimates reported by people who occupy dwellings in the lowest eight deciles of the price distribution are upward-biased, whereas those who live in the most expensive dwellings more typically understate the value of their homes. The self-reported valuation bias is systematically associated with owner's traits and with dwelling and neighborhood characteristics. Misspecification might be another potential explanation for that bias. The frequency of dwelling sales in the respondent's tract was found to have an effect on the self-reported valuation bias.