Ricardo Sanhueza () (Department of Economics, University of Chile) Jaime Ruiz-Tagle () (Jesus College, University of Cambridge)
Abstract
In Chile there is a public insurance system where people contribute a fixed percentage of their income, and also a private system where people pay a premium based on their personal characteristics. Using a large survey for 1996, we study the determinants of the decision to buy a private health plan. We find that the probability of buying a private health plan is positively correlated with income and living in areas with private health services providers. This probability decreases as families become older, and with a larger proportion of fertile age females. We also find that people who are more likely to demand health services prefer to buy a private health plan, and that people enrolled in a private health plan increase their use of health services. The segmentation observed in the health sector relates with the way private insurers and the public insurance system set their premiums.
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Find related papers by JEL classification: D81 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Criteria for Decision-Making under Risk and Uncertainty I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
References listed on IDEAS Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.:
David M. Cutler & Richard J. Zeckhauser, 1998.
"Adverse Selection in Health Insurance,"
NBER Chapters,
in: Frontiers in Health Policy Research, volume 1, pages 1-32
National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
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