The Social Value of Health Insurance

Results from Ghana

verfasst von

Sílvia Garcia-Mandicó, Arndt Reichert, Christoph Strupat

Abstract

We use the roll-out of the national health insurance in Ghana to assess the cushioning effect of coverage on the financial consequences of health shocks and resulting changes in coping behaviors. We find a strong reduction in medical expenditures, preventing households from cutting non-food consumption and causing a decrease in the volume of received remittances as well as labor supply of healthy adult household members. Moreover, we present evidence that the insurance scheme reduced the likelihood that households experiencing a health shock pulled their children out of school in order to put them to work. Avoidance of such costly coping mechanisms is potentially an important part of the social value of formal health insurance.

Organisationseinheit(en)

Institut für Gesundheitsökonomie

Externe Organisation(en)

Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development OECD
Erasmus University Rotterdam
Weltbank
German Institute of Development and Sustainability (IDOS)

Typ

Artikel

Journal

Journal of Public Economics

Band

194

ISSN

0047-2727

Publikationsdatum

02.2021

Publikationsstatus

Veröffentlicht

Peer-reviewed

Ja

ASJC Scopus Sachgebiete

Finanzwesen, Volkswirtschaftslehre und Ökonometrie

Ziele für nachhaltige Entwicklung

SDG 1 – Keine Armut

Elektronische Version(en)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104314 (Zugang: Offen)