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Persistent effects of temporary incentives: Evidence from a nationwide health insurance experiment

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  • Baillon, Aurélien
  • Capuno, Joseph
  • O'Donnell, Owen
  • Tan, Carlos Antonio
  • van Wilgenburg, Kim

Abstract

Temporary incentives are offered in anticipation of persistent effects that are seldom estimated. We use a nationwide randomized experiment in the Philippines to estimate effects of two incentives for health insurance three years after their withdrawal. We find that both temporary incentives had persistent effects on enrollment. A premium subsidy had a small but highly persistent effect. Application assistance offered to those initially unresponsive to the subsidy had a much larger but less persistent effect. The subsidy persuaded those with higher initial stated willingness to pay to enroll and keep enrolling. The offer of application assistance to initial non-compliers with the subsidy achieved a larger immediate effect by drawing in those who stated they valued insurance less and were less likely to re-enroll when the incentives were withdrawn.

Suggested Citation

  • Baillon, Aurélien & Capuno, Joseph & O'Donnell, Owen & Tan, Carlos Antonio & van Wilgenburg, Kim, 2022. "Persistent effects of temporary incentives: Evidence from a nationwide health insurance experiment," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 81(C).
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:81:y:2022:i:c:s016762962100165x
    DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2021.102580
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    Cited by:

    1. Michael R.M. Abrigo & Timothy J. Halliday & Teresa Molina, 2022. "Expanding health insurance for the elderly of the Philippines," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 37(3), pages 500-520, April.
    2. Timo R. Lambregts & Paul Bruggen & Han Bleichrodt, 2021. "Insurance decisions under nonperformance risk and ambiguity," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 63(3), pages 229-253, December.
    3. Aurélien Baillon & Owen O'Donnell & Stella Quimbo & Kim van Wilgenburg, 2022. "Do time preferences explain low health insurance take‐up?," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 89(4), pages 951-983, December.

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    Incentives; Persistence; Health insurance; Subsidy; Randomized experiment;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C93 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Design of Experiments - - - Field Experiments
    • I13 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Insurance, Public and Private

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