Rudy Douven
programmaleider (waarn.), Sector 4 Marktordening
Bezuidenhoutseweg 30
2594 AV Den Haag
I am health economist and policy advisor at CPB, Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis and Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR). I have been a researcher at CPB since 1996, where I worked for the last ten years on health policy and reform. In my work I have often bridged the gap between research and policy; for example, I was responsible for the formal analysis of the proposed health policy measures by the political parties during the general elections in 2010 and 2012. I spearheaded the research that led in 2011 to make health insurers responsible for controlling the total level of health care expenditure. I also worked as an expert adviser for many official working groups, such as the Dutch Social Economic Council on long-term care in 2009, the official working group on reconsidering curative health care in 2010 and at the working group on mental illnesses in 2010 and efficiency in 2013. In 2013-2014, I worked as a Harkness Fellow at the Health Care and Policy Department of Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA.
I have published my work in the following peer-reviewed international journals:
Health Affairs, Journal of Health Economics, Journal of Human Resources, Health Economics, Journal of Economics and Management Strategy, Control Engineering Practice, European Journal of Political Economy, European Journal of Health Economics, International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Economic Modelling, International Journal of Health Care Finance and Economics, International Journal of Game Theory, Biometrical Journal.
I have presented my work in many different countries. For a full list of my English and Dutch work, please visit my CV below.
Publications
The effect of reinsuring a deductible on pharmaceutical spending: A Dutch case study on low-income people
The basic health insurance in the Netherlands includes a mandatory deductible of currently 385 euros per adult per year. Several municipalities offer a group contract for low-income people in which the deductible is reinsured, meaning that out-of-pocket spending under the deductible is covered by supplementary insurance. This study examines to what extent such reinsurance leads to higher pharmaceutical spending. →
Causes of regional variation in Dutch healthcare expenditures: evidence from movers
We assess the relative importance of demand and supply factors as determinants of regional variation in healthcare expenditures in the Netherlands. Our empirical approach follows individuals who migrate between regions. We use individual data on annual healthcare expenditures for the entire Dutch population between the years 2006 and 2013. →
Analyse actieprogramma ‘Werken in de Zorg’
Does managed competition constrain hospitals’ contract prices? Evidence from the Netherlands
In the Dutch health care system health insurers negotiate with hospitals about the pricing of hospital products in a managed competition framework. In this paper, we study these contract prices that became for the first time publicly available in 2016. The data show substantive price variation between hospitals for the same products, and within a hospital for the same product across insurers. →
Cost-Sharing Design Matters: A Comparison of the Rebate and Deductible in Healthcare
Since 2006, the Dutch population has faced two different cost-sharing schemes in health insurance for curative care: a mandatory rebate of 255 euros in 2006 and 2007, and since 2008 a mandatory deductible. Using administrative data for the entire Dutch population, we compare the effect of both cost-sharing schemes on healthcare consumption between 2006 and 2013. →