The Social Value of Health Insurance

Results from Ghana

authored by

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.

Organisation(s)

Institute of Health Economics

External Organisation(s)

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

Type

Article

Journal

Journal of Public Economics

Volume

194

ISSN

0047-2727

Publication date

02.2021

Publication status

Published

Peer reviewed

Yes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Finance, Economics and Econometrics

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG 1 - No Poverty

Electronic version(s)

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104314 (Access: Open)