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Selection and behavioral responses of health insurance subsidies in the long run: Evidence from a field experiment in Ghana

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  • Patrick Opoku Asuming
  • Hyuncheol Bryant Kim
  • Armand Sim

Abstract

We study the effects of a health insurance subsidy in Ghana, where mandates are not enforceable. We randomly provide different levels of subsidy (1/3, 2/3, and full) and evaluate the impact at 7 months and 3 years after the intervention. We find that a one‐time subsidy increased insurance enrollment for all groups in both the short and long runs, but health care utilization in the long run increased only for the partial subsidy group. We find supportive evidence that ex‐post behavioral responses rather than ex‐ante selective enrollment explain the long‐run health care utilization results.

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  • Patrick Opoku Asuming & Hyuncheol Bryant Kim & Armand Sim, 2024. "Selection and behavioral responses of health insurance subsidies in the long run: Evidence from a field experiment in Ghana," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(5), pages 992-1032, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:wly:hlthec:v:33:y:2024:i:5:p:992-1032
    DOI: 10.1002/hec.4797
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    5. Benjamin A. Olken & Rema Hanna & Phitawat Poonpolkul & Nada Wasi, 2024. "Willingness-To-Pay vs Administrative Hurdles: Understanding Barriers to Social Insurance Enrollment in Thailand," PIER Discussion Papers 223, Puey Ungphakorn Institute for Economic Research.

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