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Competition among Health Maintenance Organizations

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  • William E. Encinosa
  • David E. M. Sappington

Abstract

We develop a model of competition among health maintenance organizations (HMOs) to analyze the effects of market power, scale economies, and asymmetric knowledge of health risk on market outcomes. We find that competition among HMOs may, but need not, ensure socially preferred outcomes. Market power or scale economies can sometimes admit socially preferred outcomes when they would otherwise not arise. Asymmetric knowledge of health risk may or may not be constraining. When it is constraining, a variety of patterns of incomplete health insurance can arise, along with excessive or insufficient treatment and preventive care for either high‐risk or low‐risk individuals.

Suggested Citation

  • William E. Encinosa & David E. M. Sappington, 1997. "Competition among Health Maintenance Organizations," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 6(1), pages 129-150, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:jemstr:v:6:y:1997:i:1:p:129-150
    DOI: 10.1111/j.1430-9134.1997.00129.x
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Newhouse, Joseph P., 1984. "Cream skimming, asymmetric information, and a competitive insurance market," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 3(1), pages 97-100, April.
    2. Pauly, Mark V, 1986. "Taxation, Health Insurance, and Market Failure in the Medical Economy," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 24(2), pages 629-675, June.
    3. Marquis, M. Susan, 1992. "Adverse selection with a multiple choice among health insurance plans: A simulation analysis," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(2), pages 129-151, August.
    4. Sloan, Frank A., 1992. "Adverse selection: Does it preclude a competitive health insurance market?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 353-356, October.
    5. Ma, Ching-to Albert, 1994. "Health Care Payment Systems: Cost and Quality Incentives," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 3(1), pages 93-112, Spring.
    6. Michael Rothschild & Joseph Stiglitz, 1976. "Equilibrium in Competitive Insurance Markets: An Essay on the Economics of Imperfect Information," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 90(4), pages 629-649.
    7. Joseph P. Newhouse, 1996. "Reimbursing Health Plans and Health Providers: Efficiency in Production versus Selection," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 34(3), pages 1236-1263, September.
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    Citations

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    Cited by:

    1. Laurence C. Baker & Kenneth S. Corts, 1995. "The Effects of HMOs on Conventional Insurance Premiums: Theory and Evidence," NBER Working Papers 5356, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    2. Ching‐To Albert Ma & Thomas G. Mcguire, 2002. "Network Incentives in Managed Health Care," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(1), pages 1-35, March.
    3. Thomas G. McGuire & Jacob Glazer, 2000. "Optimal Risk Adjustment in Markets with Adverse Selection: An Application to Managed Care," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 90(4), pages 1055-1071, September.
    4. Olivella, Pau & Vera-Hernandez, Marcos, 2007. "Competition among differentiated health plans under adverse selection," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 233-250, March.
    5. Daniel McFadden & Carlos Noton & Pau Olivella, 2015. "Minimum coverage regulation in insurance markets," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 6(3), pages 247-278, August.
    6. Shiv Dixit, 2023. "Contract Enforcement and Preventive Healthcare: Theory and Evidence," Review of Economic Dynamics, Elsevier for the Society for Economic Dynamics, vol. 51, pages 1048-1094, December.
    7. Belli, Paolo, 2001. "How adverse selection affects the health insurance market," Policy Research Working Paper Series 2574, The World Bank.
    8. Glazer, Jacob & McGuire, Thomas G., 2011. "Gold and Silver health plans: Accommodating demand heterogeneity in managed competition," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 30(5), pages 1011-1019.
    9. Bradley Herring, 2010. "Suboptimal provision of preventive healthcare due to expected enrollee turnover among private insurers," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(4), pages 438-448, April.
    10. Pau Olivella & Marcos Vera-Hernandez, 2010. "How complex are the contracts offered by health plans?," SERIEs: Journal of the Spanish Economic Association, Springer;Spanish Economic Association, vol. 1(3), pages 305-323, July.

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