van Dijk Machiel, Pomp Marc, Douven Rudy, Laske-Aldershof Trea, Schut Erik, de Boer Willem, de Boo Anne
Central Planning Bureau, P.O. Box 80510, 2508 GM The Hague, The Netherlands.
Int J Health Care Finance Econ. 2008 Dec;8(4):225-44. doi: 10.1007/s10754-008-9038-y. Epub 2008 Aug 17.
To estimate the price sensitivity of consumer choice of health insurance firm.
Using paneldata of the flows of insured between pairs of Dutch sickness funds during the period 1993-2002, we estimate the sensitivity of these flows to differences in insurance premium.
The price elasticity of residual demand for health insurance was low during the period 1993-2002, confirming earlier findings based on annual changes in market share. We find small but significant elasticities for basic insurance but insignificant elasticities for supplementary insurance. Young enrollees are more price sensitive than older enrollees.
Competition was weak in the market for health insurance during the period under study. For the market-based reforms that are currently under way, this implies that measures to promote competition in the health insurance industry may be needed.
评估消费者对健康保险公司选择的价格敏感度。
利用1993年至2002年期间荷兰各对疾病基金之间参保人员流动的面板数据，我们估计这些流动对保险费差异的敏感度。
1993年至2002年期间，健康保险剩余需求的价格弹性较低，证实了基于市场份额年度变化的早期研究结果。我们发现基本保险的弹性虽小但显著，而补充保险的弹性不显著。年轻参保者比年长参保者对价格更敏感。
在所研究期间，健康保险市场的竞争较弱。对于当前正在进行的基于市场的改革而言，这意味着可能需要采取措施促进健康保险行业的竞争。
