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Evaluating the redistributive impact of public health expenditure using an insurance value approach

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Listed author(s):
  • Amedeo Spadaro
  • Lucia Mangiavacchi

    ()

  • Ignacio Moral-Arce
  • Marta Adiego-Estella
  • Angela Blanco-Moreno

Abstract

This article analyses the redistributive impact of public health expenditure in Spain using an insurance value approach to compute individual and household’s value of health services non-cash benefit. We model the intensity of use of different health care services using a count data framework on a nationally representative health care survey and then predict probabilities on the 2006 Spanish EU-SILC sample. This allows us to extend disposable income with the expected monetary value of public health services and to compare it with strictly cash income. Since non-cash income due to public health services is associated with health needs, we use needs-adjusted equivalence scales to perform distributional analysis and poverty/inequality comparisons. The results show that public health expenditure in Spain acts progressively on income distribution, and that health in-kind benefits, once considered as part of disposable income, can be extremely effective in reducing poverty and inequality. Copyright Springer-Verlag 2013

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File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1007/s10198-012-0423-6
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Article provided by Springer & Deutsche Gesellschaft für Gesundheitsökonomie (DGGÖ) in its journal The European Journal of Health Economics.

Volume (Year): 14 (2013)
Issue (Month): 5 (October)
Pages: 775-787

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Handle: RePEc:spr:eujhec:v:14:y:2013:i:5:p:775-787
DOI: 10.1007/s10198-012-0423-6
Contact details of provider: Web page: http://www.springer.com

Web page: https://www.dggoe.de/

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Order Information: Web: http://www.springer.com/medicine/health+informatics/journal/10198/PS2

Keywords: Health equity; Health insurance; Extended income; In-kind transfers; Income distribution; Needs adjustment; H44; H51; I18; I38; J24;

Find related papers by JEL classification:

  • H44 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Publicly Provided Goods: Mixed Markets
  • H51 - Public Economics - - National Government Expenditures and Related Policies - - - Government Expenditures and Health
  • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
  • I38 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Welfare, Well-Being, and Poverty - - - Government Programs; Provision and Effects of Welfare Programs
  • J24 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demand and Supply of Labor - - - Human Capital; Skills; Occupational Choice; Labor Productivity

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