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Economic efficiency and mixed public/private insurance

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  • Blomqvist, A.
  • Johansson, P-O.

Abstract

In this paper we discuss the efficiency properties of insurance markets where supplementary private insurance is allowed to exist together with a compulsory government insurance plan. Our main conclusion, which is contrary to both those of Besley (1989) and Selden (1993), is that in a simple model focussing on the moral hazard problem alone, a mixed system will generally be strictly less efficient than a purely private (competitive) system. We also show that there is a flaw in Selden's (1993) main proposition, which at least in part invalidates his result on the welfare properties of systems of mixed government/private insurance.
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  • Blomqvist, A. & Johansson, P-O., 1997. "Economic efficiency and mixed public/private insurance," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 505-516, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:66:y:1997:i:3:p:505-516
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Pauly, Mark V, 1986. "Taxation, Health Insurance, and Market Failure in the Medical Economy," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 24(2), pages 629-675, June.
    2. Selden, Thomas M., 1993. "Should the government provide catastrophic insurance?," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 51(2), pages 241-247, June.
    3. Blomqvist, Ake, 1997. "Optimal non-linear health insurance," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3), pages 303-321, June.
    4. Zeckhauser, Richard, 1970. "Medical insurance: A case study of the tradeoff between risk spreading and appropriate incentives," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 10-26, March.
    5. Mark V. Pauly, 1974. "Overinsurance and Public Provision of Insurance: The Roles of Moral Hazard and Adverse Selection," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 88(1), pages 44-62.
    6. Besley, Timothy, 1989. "Publicly provided disaster insurance for health and the control of moral hazard," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(2), pages 141-156, July.
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    Cited by:

    1. Katarzyna Krot & Iga Rudawska, 2021. "How Public Trust in Health Care Can Shape Patient Overconsumption in Health Systems? The Missing Links," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 18(8), pages 1-15, April.
    2. Torben M. Andersen & Joydeep Bhattacharya, 2014. "A dynamic-efficiency rationale for public investment in the health of the young," Canadian Journal of Economics, Canadian Economics Association, vol. 47(3), pages 697-719, August.
    3. Raj Chetty & Emmanuel Saez, 2010. "Optimal Taxation and Social Insurance with Endogenous Private Insurance," NBER Chapters, in: Income Taxation, Trans-Atlantic Public Economics Seminar (TAPES), pages 85-114, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc.
    4. Boone, Jan, 2015. "Basic versus supplementary health insurance: Moral hazard and adverse selection," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 128(C), pages 50-58.
    5. Hoel, Michael, 2007. "What should (public) health insurance cover?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(2), pages 251-262, March.
    6. Jung, Juergen & Tran, Chung, 2022. "Social health insurance: A quantitative exploration," Journal of Economic Dynamics and Control, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    7. Yan, Jubo & Kniffin, Kevin M. & Kunreuther, Howard C. & Schulze, William D., 2020. "The roles of reason and emotion in private and public responses to terrorism," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 778-796.
    8. Francesca Barigozzi, 2006. "Supplementary Insurance with 'ex post' moral hazard: efficiency and redistribution," Annals of Economics and Statistics, GENES, issue 83-84, pages 295-325.
    9. Jihong Ding & Minglai Zhu, 2009. "A theoretical investigation of the reformed public health insurance in urban China," Frontiers of Economics in China, Springer;Higher Education Press, vol. 4(1), pages 1-29, March.
    10. Alessandro Petretto, 2013. "On the Fuzzy Boundaries between Public and Private in Health-Care Organization and Funding Systems," Rivista di Politica Economica, SIPI Spa, issue 1, pages 327-370, January-M.
    11. Pedro Pita Barros & Xavier Martinez‐Giralt, 2002. "Public and Private Provision of Health Care," Journal of Economics & Management Strategy, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 11(1), pages 109-133, March.
    12. Rachel J. Huang & Larry Y. Tzeng, 2008. "Consumption Externality and Equilibrium Underinsurance," Journal of Risk & Insurance, The American Risk and Insurance Association, vol. 75(4), pages 1039-1054, December.
    13. Peter C. Smith, 2013. "Incorporating Financial Protection Into Decision Rules For Publicly Financed Healthcare Treatments," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(2), pages 180-193, February.
    14. Hoel, Michael, 2005. "Prioritizing public health expenditures when there is a private alternative," Memorandum 16/2005, Oslo University, Department of Economics.
    15. Rachel J. Huang & Larry Y. Tzeng, 2007. "Insurer's insolvency risk and tax deductions for the individual's net losses," The Geneva Risk and Insurance Review, Palgrave Macmillan;International Association for the Study of Insurance Economics (The Geneva Association), vol. 32(2), pages 129-145, December.
    16. Finkelstein, Amy, 2004. "The interaction of partial public insurance programs and residual private insurance markets: evidence from the US Medicare program," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 1-24, January.
    17. Petretto, Alessandro, 1999. "Optimal social health insurance with supplementary private insurance," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(6), pages 727-745, December.
    18. Omar Paccagnella & Vincenzo Rebba & Guglielmo Weber, 2013. "VOLUNTARY PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE AMONG THE OVER 50s IN EUROPE," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 22(3), pages 289-315, March.
    19. Johansson, Per-Olov, 2000. "Properties of actuarially fair and pay-as-you-go health insurance schemes for the elderly. An OLG model approach," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 19(4), pages 477-498, July.
    20. Samuel Bowles & Herbert Gintis, 2000. "Risk Aversion, Insurance, and the Efficiency-Equality Tradeoff," UMASS Amherst Economics Working Papers 2000-03, University of Massachusetts Amherst, Department of Economics.
    21. Johannesson, Magnus & Johansson, Per-Olov & Soderqvist, Tore, 1998. "Time spent on waiting lists for medical care: an insurance approach," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(5), pages 627-644, October.
    22. Selden, Thomas M., 1997. "More on the economic efficiency of mixed public/private insurance," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 517-523, December.

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
    • H42 - Public Economics - - Publicly Provided Goods - - - Publicly Provided Private Goods

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