Fergusson D M, Horwood L J, Shannon F T
N Z Med J. 1986 May 28;99(802):371-3.
The reasons for holding private medical insurance were studied in a sample of 495 insured Christchurch families having school aged children. In one-third of these families health insurance was provided by an employer. Two major reasons for holding insurance were cited by those whose insurance was not provided by an employer: three-quarters of these families stated that health insurance helped them meet medical bills and nearly two-thirds claimed that insurance provided them with access to immediate health care if this was needed. A minority (24%) of those holding health insurance believed that public sector services were inadequate to provide health care but only 9% of families were able to cite some specific shortcoming of public sector services which had impelled them to take out insurance cover. It is concluded that the rapid rise of private health insurance in New Zealand is likely to have arisen from the net effects of the promotional activities of insurance companies, the declining real contribution of State health care funding and the effects of growing public uncertainty about the ability of public sector services to deliver health care.
对495个有学龄儿童的克赖斯特彻奇参保家庭样本进行了研究，以探究购买私人医疗保险的原因。在这些家庭中，三分之一的家庭医疗保险由雇主提供。那些保险非雇主提供的家庭提到了两个主要原因：四分之三的此类家庭表示，医疗保险帮助他们支付医疗费用，近三分之二的家庭称，保险使他们在需要时能够立即获得医疗服务。持有医疗保险的少数人（24%）认为公共部门服务不足以提供医疗保健，但只有9%的家庭能够指出公共部门服务的一些具体不足，促使他们购买保险。得出的结论是，新西兰私人医疗保险的迅速增长可能源于保险公司促销活动的净效应、国家医疗保健资金实际贡献的下降以及公众对公共部门服务提供医疗保健能力的不确定性增加的影响。
