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Universal Public Health Insurance and Private Coverage: Externalities in Health Care Consumption

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  • Sherry A. Glied

Abstract

Inequality in access to health care services, through private purchase, appears to pose policy challenges greater than inequality in other spheres. This paper explores how inequality in access to health care services relates to social welfare. I examine the sources of private demand for health insurance and the ramifications of this demand for health, for patterns for government spending on health care services, and for individual and social well-being. Finally, I evaluate the implications of a health tax as a response to the externalities of health service consumption, and provide a rough measure of the tax in the context of the Canadian publicly-financed health care system.

Suggested Citation

  • Sherry A. Glied, 2008. "Universal Public Health Insurance and Private Coverage: Externalities in Health Care Consumption," NBER Working Papers 13885, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:13885
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Andrea Leiter & Engelbert Theurl, 2012. "The convergence of health care financing structures: empirical evidence from OECD-countries," The European Journal of Health Economics, Springer;Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ), vol. 13(1), pages 7-18, February.
    2. Enkai Guo & Huamei Zhong & Yang Gao & Jing Li & Zhaohong Wang, 2022. "Socioeconomic Disparities in Health Care Consumption: Using the 2018-China Family Panel Studies," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 19(12), pages 1-14, June.
    3. Omar Paccagnella & Vincenzo Rebba & Guglielmo Weber, 2013. "VOLUNTARY PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE AMONG THE OVER 50s IN EUROPE," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(3), pages 289-315, March.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H23 - Public Economics - - Taxation, Subsidies, and Revenue - - - Externalities; Redistributive Effects; Environmental Taxes and Subsidies
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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