Copayments in the German Health System: Does It Work?

This file is part of IDEAS, which uses RePEc data

Copayments in the German Health System: Does It Work?

Author Info

Boris Augurzky () (RWI Essen and IZA Bonn)
Thomas K. Bauer () (RWI Essen, Ruhr-University Bochum, CEPR London and IZA Bonn)
Sandra Schaffner () (RWI Essen)

Additional information is available for the following registered author(s):

Abstract

This paper examines the effect of copayments on doctor visits using the German health care reform of 2004 as a natural experiment. In January 2004, copayments of 10 euros for the first doctor visit in each quarter have been introduced for all adults in the statutory health insurance. Individuals covered by private health insurance as well as youths have been exempted from these copayments. We use them as control groups in a difference-indifferences approach to identify the causal impact of these copayments on doctor visits. In contrast to expectations and public opinion our results indicate that there are no statistically significant effects of the copayments on the decision of visiting a doctor.

Download Info
To download:

If you experience problems downloading a file, check if you have the proper application to view it first. Information about this may be contained in the File-Format links below. In case of further problems read the IDEAS help page. Note that these files are not on the IDEAS site. Please be patient as the files may be large.

Publisher Info
Paper provided by Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA) in its series IZA Discussion Papers with number 2290.

Download reference. The following formats are available: HTML (with abstract), plain text (with abstract), BibTeX, RIS (EndNote, RefMan, ProCite), ReDIF
Length: 20 pages
Date of creation: Sep 2006
Date of revision:
Handle: RePEc:iza:izadps:dp2290

Contact details of provider:
Postal: IZA, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany
Phone: +49 228 3894 223
Fax: +49 228 3894 180
Web page: http://www.iza.org

Order Information:
Postal: IZA, Margard Ody, P.O. Box 7240, D-53072 Bonn, Germany
Email:

For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its listing, contact: (Mark Fallak).

Find related papers by JEL classification:
I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

NEP-ALL-2006-09-23 (All new papers)
NEP-EEC-2006-09-23 (European Economics)
NEP-HEA-2006-09-23 (Health Economics)

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.:

Marcus Tamm & Harald Tauchmann & Jürgen Wasem & Stefan Greß, 2007. "Elasticities of market shares and social health insurance choice in germany: a dynamic panel data approach," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 16(3), pages 243-256. [Downloadable!]

Full references

Cited by:
(explanations, 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.)

Alfredo R. Paloyo, 2009. "Co-pay and Feel Okay: Evidence of Illusory Health Gains from a Health Insurance Reform," Ruhr Economic Papers 0142, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen. [Downloadable!]
Hendrik Schmitz, 2008. "Do Optional Deductibles Reduce the Number of Doctor Visits?: Empirical Evidence with German Data," SOEPpapers 141, DIW Berlin, The German Socio-Economic Panel (SOEP). [Downloadable!]
Other versions:
- Hendrik Schmitz, 2008. "Do Optional Deductibles Reduce the Number of Doctor Visits? – Empirical Evidence with German Data," Ruhr Economic Papers 0076, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen. [Downloadable!]

Statistics

Access and download statistics

Did you know? Want to help out with this project? Look for volunteer opportunities.

This page was last updated on 2009-11-23.

This information is provided to you by IDEAS at the Department of Economics, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, University of Connecticut using RePEc data on a server sponsored by the Society for Economic Dynamics.