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Quality Healthcare and Health Insurance Retention: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in the Kolkata Slums

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  • Delavallade, Clara

    (SALDRU, School of Economics, University of Cape Town and IFPRI)

Abstract

Health care in developing countries is often unreliable and of poor quality, reducing incentives to use quality health services. Using data from a field experiment in India, I show that providing initial quality care improves the demand for quality health care by raising intended health insurance renewal and subsequent use of quality services. Randomly offering insurance policyholders a free consultation with a qualified doctor has a twofold effect: receiving this additional benefit raises willingness to pay to renew health insurance by 56 percent, exposed individuals are 11 percentage points more likely to consult a qualified practitioner when ill after the consultation.

Suggested Citation

  • Delavallade, Clara, 2015. "Quality Healthcare and Health Insurance Retention: Evidence from a Randomized Experiment in the Kolkata Slums," SALDRU Working Papers 143, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    • Handle: RePEc:ldr:wpaper:143
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    Cited by:

    1. Delavallade, Clara & Dizon, Felipe & Hill, Ruth & Petraud, Jean Paul, 2015. "Managing Risk with Insurance and Savings: Experimental Evidence for Male and Female Farm Managers in the Sahel," SALDRU Working Papers 142, Southern Africa Labour and Development Research Unit, University of Cape Town.
    2. Delavallade, Clara & Dizon, Felipe & Hill, Ruth Vargas & Petraud, Jean Paul, 2015. "Managing risk with insurance and savings: Experimental evidence for male and female farm managers in West Africa:," IFPRI discussion papers 1426, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).

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    More about this item

    Keywords

    access to and demand for quality healthcare; micro health insurance retention; willingness to pay; trust; poverty; India;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I13 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Insurance, Public and Private
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • O15 - Economic Development, Innovation, Technological Change, and Growth - - Economic Development - - - Economic Development: Human Resources; Human Development; Income Distribution; Migration

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