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Changes in the demand for private medical insurance following a shift in tax incentives

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Author Info
Marisol Rodriguez
Alexandrina Stoyanova
Abstract

The 1998 Spanish reform of the Personal Income Tax eliminated the 15% deduction for private medical expenditures including payments on private health insurance (PHI) policies. To avoid an undesired increase in the demand for publicly funded health care, tax incentives to buy PHI were not completely removed but basically shifted from individual to group employer-paid policies. In a unique fiscal experiment, at the same time that the tax relief for individually purchased policies was abolished, the government provided for tax allowances on policies taken out through employment. Using a bivariate probit model on data from National Health Surveys, we estimate the impact of said reform on the demand for PHI and the changes occurred within it. Our findings indicate that the total probability of buying PHI was not significantly affected by the reform. Indeed, the fall in the demand for individual policies (by 10% between 1997 and 2001) was offset by an increase in the demand for group employer-paid ones. We also briefly discuss the welfare effects on the state budget, the industry and society at large. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1002/hec.1248
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Article provided by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. in its journal Health Economics.

Volume (Year): 17 (2008)
Issue (Month): 2 ()
Pages: 185-202
Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:17:y:2008:i:2:p:185-202

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Web page: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/cgi-bin/jhome/5749

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  3. Hoel, Michael & Saether, Erik Magnus, 2003. "Public health care with waiting time: the role of supplementary private health care," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 22(4), pages 599-616, July. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  8. Marisol Rodríguez & Alexandrina Stoyanova, 2004. "The effect of private insurance access on the choice of GP|specialist and public|private provider in Spain," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 13(7), pages 689-703. [Downloadable!]
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  13. Van de Ven, Wynand P. M. M. & Van Praag, Bernard M. S., 1981. "The demand for deductibles in private health insurance : A probit model with sample selection," Journal of Econometrics, Elsevier, vol. 17(2), pages 229-252, November. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  17. Hansen, Bodil O. & Keiding, Hans, 2002. "Alternative health insurance schemes: a welfare comparison," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(5), pages 739-756, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  19. Danzon, Patricia M., 2002. "Welfare effects of supplementary insurance: a comment," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 21(5), pages 923-926, September. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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