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Estimating Price Elasticities of Convalescent Care Programmes

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  • NicolasR. Ziebarth

Abstract

This study is the first to estimate price elasticities of demand for convalescent care programmes. In 1997, the German legislature more than doubled the daily co-payments for the publicly insured from €6 to €13. The measure caused the overall demand for convalescent care treatments to fall by 20 to 25%. I estimate the price elasticity for medical rehabilitation programmes aimed at preventing work disability to be about - 0.3, whereas the elasticity for medical rehabilitation programmes for recovery from accidents at work lies around - 0.5. The demand for preventive treatment at health spas is elastic and less than - 1. Copyright © The Author(s). Journal compilation © Royal Economic Society 2010.

Suggested Citation

  • NicolasR. Ziebarth, 2010. "Estimating Price Elasticities of Convalescent Care Programmes," Economic Journal, Royal Economic Society, vol. 120(545), pages 816-844, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:ecj:econjl:v:120:y:2010:i:545:p:816-844
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    Cited by:

    1. Herr, A. & Suppliet, M., 2011. "Co-Payment Exemptions and Reference Prices: an Empirical Study of Pharmaceutical Prices in Germany," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 11/18, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    2. Nicolas R. Ziebarth, 2018. "Social Insurance and Health," Contributions to Economic Analysis, in: Health Econometrics, volume 127, pages 57-84, Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
    3. Pilny, Adam & Wübker, Ansgar & Ziebarth, Nicolas R., 2017. "Introducing risk adjustment and free health plan choice in employer-based health insurance: Evidence from Germany," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 56(C), pages 330-351.
    4. Suppliet, Moritz & Herr, Annika, 2016. "Cost-Sharing and Drug Pricing Strategies : Introducing Tiered Co-Payments in Reference Price Markets," Other publications TiSEM 4d692f0e-8577-4392-b413-2, Tilburg University, School of Economics and Management.
    5. Sebastian Garmann, 2017. "The effect of a reduction in the opening hours of polling stations on turnout," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 171(1), pages 99-117, April.
    6. Kurt Lavetti & Thomas DeLeire & Nicolas R. Ziebarth, 2023. "How do low‐income enrollees in the Affordable Care Act marketplaces respond to cost‐sharing?," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 90(1), pages 155-183, March.
    7. Christian Bünnings & Hendrik Schmitz & Harald Tauchmann & Nicolas R. Ziebarth, 2015. "How Health Plan Enrollees Value Prices Relative to Supplemental Benefits and Service Quality," Ruhr Economic Papers 0545, Rheinisch-Westfälisches Institut für Wirtschaftsforschung, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universität Dortmund, Universität Duisburg-Essen.
    8. Bunnings, C,; & Schmitz, H,; & Tauchmann, H,; & Ziebarth, N.R,;, 2015. "How Health Plan Enrollees Value Prices Relative to Supplemental Benefits and Service Quality," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 15/02, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    9. Richard V. Burkhauser & Mary C. Daly & Nicolas R. Ziebarth, 2016. "Protecting working-age people with disabilities: experiences of four industrialized nations [Absicherung von Personen mit Erwerbsminderung: Erfahrungen aus vier Industrieländern]," Journal for Labour Market Research, Springer;Institute for Employment Research/ Institut für Arbeitsmarkt- und Berufsforschung (IAB), vol. 49(4), pages 367-386, December.
    10. Nicolas R. Ziebarth & Martin Karlsson, 2014. "The Effects Of Expanding The Generosity Of The Statutory Sickness Insurance System," Journal of Applied Econometrics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 29(2), pages 208-230, March.
    11. Nicolas Ziebarth, 2014. "Assessing the effectiveness of health care cost containment measures: evidence from the market for rehabilitation care," International Journal of Health Economics and Management, Springer, vol. 14(1), pages 41-67, March.
    12. Joshua D. Woodard & Jing Yi, 2020. "Estimation of Insurance Deductible Demand Under Endogenous Premium Rates," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 87(2), pages 477-500, June.
    13. Lee Yong-Woo & Lee Yong-Ju, 2019. "The Effects of Copayments on Healthcare Utilization in Korea’s Medical Aid Program," The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy, De Gruyter, vol. 19(3), pages 1-17, July.
    14. Niklas Jakobsson & Mikael Svensson, 2016. "The effect of copayments on primary care utilization: results from a quasi-experiment," Applied Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(39), pages 3752-3762, August.
    15. repec:zbw:rwirep:0545 is not listed on IDEAS
    16. Woodard, Joshua, 2016. "Estimation of Insurance Deductible Demand under Endogenous Premium Rates," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 236151, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    17. Pichler, Stefan & Ziebarth, Nicolas R., 2024. "Sick Leave and Medical Leave in the United States: A Categorization and Recent Trends," IZA Policy Papers 206, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    18. Arndt R. Reichert & Boris Augurzky & Harald Tauchmann, 2015. "Self‐Perceived Job Insecurity And The Demand For Medical Rehabilitation: Does Fear Of Unemployment Reduce Health Care Utilization?," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 24(1), pages 8-25, January.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • H51 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Health
    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • J22 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Time Allocation and Labor Supply

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