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German Long-Term Health Insurance: Theory Meets Evidence

Author

Listed:
  • Juan Pablo Atal
  • Hanming Fang
  • Martin Karlsson
  • Nicolas R. Ziebarth

Abstract

By insuring policyholders against contemporaneous health expenditure shocks and future reclassification risk, long-term health insurance contracts are a viable alternative to community-rated short-term contracts with an individual mandate. German long-term health insurance (GLTHI) is the largest market for private long-term health insurance contracts in the world. It features a simple design with initial risk-rating followed by guaranteed-renewable constant premiums over the lifecycle. We estimate the key ingredients of a life-cycle model to assess the welfare effects of the GLTHI contract and compare them to the optimal contract. This comparison provides further lessons about the trade-offs of long-term health insurance design.

Suggested Citation

  • Juan Pablo Atal & Hanming Fang & Martin Karlsson & Nicolas R. Ziebarth, 2020. "German Long-Term Health Insurance: Theory Meets Evidence," NBER Working Papers 26870, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    • Handle: RePEc:nbr:nberwo:26870
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    Cited by:

    1. Martin Gaynor & Kate Ho & Robert J. Town, 2015. "The Industrial Organization of Health-Care Markets," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 53(2), pages 235-284, June.
    2. Fischer, Martin & Karlsson, Martin & Prodromidis, Nikolaos, 2021. "Long‐term Effects of Hospital Deliveries," CINCH Working Paper Series (since 2020) 74712, Duisburg-Essen University Library, DuEPublico.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • G22 - Financial Economics - - Financial Institutions and Services - - - Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies
    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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