Thomas K
Department of Social and Administrative Health Sciences, School of Public Health, University of California, Berkeley 94720-7360.
Inquiry. 1994;31(4):415-24.
A growing concern over gaps in health insurance coverage has led to proposals for reform. Some proposals rely on incentives to encourage the purchase of private health insurance, while others rely on mandatory purchase. This paper explores families' demand for private health insurance, with an emphasis on lower income families, in order to understand the factors that affect purchasing decisions. The study uses data from the 1977 National Medical Care Expenditure Survey to show which factors are important in determining whether or not families purchase private health insurance as well as the quantity of insurance purchased. Results indicate that it is the combination of income, price, and substitutes for private health insurance that impact families' decision to purchase private health insurance. As long as a safety net of substitutes exists for low-income families, subsidies may not be enough to encourage more extensive private health insurance coverage.
对医疗保险覆盖缺口的日益担忧引发了改革提案。一些提案依靠激励措施来鼓励购买私人医疗保险，而另一些则依靠强制购买。本文探讨了家庭对私人医疗保险的需求，重点关注低收入家庭，以便了解影响购买决策的因素。该研究使用了1977年全国医疗支出调查的数据，以表明哪些因素在决定家庭是否购买私人医疗保险以及购买的保险数量方面很重要。结果表明，收入、价格和私人医疗保险替代品的组合会影响家庭购买私人医疗保险的决策。只要低收入家庭存在替代品的安全网，补贴可能不足以鼓励更广泛的私人医疗保险覆盖。
