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Public Healthcare Entitlements and Healthcare Utilisation among the Older Population in Ireland

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  • Yuanyuan Ma
  • Anne Nolan

Abstract

The use of direct out‐of‐pocket payments to finance general practitioner (GP) care by the majority of the population in Ireland is unusual in a European context. Currently, approximately 40% of the population have means‐tested access to free GP care, while the remainder must pay the full out‐of‐pocket cost. In this paper, we use data from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing (TILDA) to examine the impact of the current system of public healthcare entitlements on GP utilisation among the older population. Using difference‐in‐difference propensity score matching methods, we find significant effects of changes in public healthcare entitlements on GP utilisation (i.e. introducing user fees reduces utilisation, while removing them increases utilisation). There is limited evidence of offset effects on other types of healthcare utilisation. The results have direct implications for current Irish health policy, and add to the international literature on the effects of insurance on healthcare utilisation. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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  • Yuanyuan Ma & Anne Nolan, 2017. "Public Healthcare Entitlements and Healthcare Utilisation among the Older Population in Ireland," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(11), pages 1412-1428, November.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:26:y:2017:i:11:p:1412-1428
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.3429
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    Cited by:

    1. Connolly, Sheelah & Brick, Aoife & O'Neill, Ciarán & O'Callaghan, Michael, 2022. "An analysis of the primary care systems of Ireland and Northern Ireland," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number RS137, June.
    2. Ma, Yuanyuan & Nolan, Anne & Smith, James P., 2020. "Free GP care and psychological health: Quasi-experimental evidence from Ireland," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 72(C).
    3. Nolan, Anne & May, Peter & Matthews, Soraya & Normand, Charles & Kenny, Rose Anne & Ward, Mark, 2022. "Public health insurance and mortality in the older population: Evidence from the Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing," Health Policy, Elsevier, vol. 126(3), pages 190-196.
    4. Keane, Claire & Seán Lyons & Mark Regan & Walsh, Brendan, 2022. "Home support services in Ireland: Exchequer and distributional impacts of funding options," Research Series, Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI), number SUSTAT111, June.
    5. Fu, Minghui & Liu, Chuanjiang & Yang, Mian, 2020. "Effects of public health policies on the health status and medical service utilization of Chinese internal migrants," China Economic Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    6. Mohan, Gretta & Nolan, Anne & Lyons, Seán, 2019. "An investigation of the effect of accessibility to General Practitioner services on healthcare utilisation among older people," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 220(C), pages 254-263.
    7. Paul K Gorecki, 2018. "The Impact of Free GP Care on GP Utilisation in Ireland," The Economic and Social Review, Economic and Social Studies, vol. 49(2), pages 201-215.
    8. Emma Wallace & Frank Moriarty & Christine McGarrigle & Susan M Smith & Rose-Anne Kenny & Tom Fahey, 2018. "Self-report versus electronic medical record recorded healthcare utilisation in older community-dwelling adults: Comparison of two prospective cohort studies," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 13(10), pages 1-13, October.

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