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The Impact of a Disease-Specific Health Insurance Reform on Mortality

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  • Menares, F.;
  • Muñoz, P.;

Abstract

We study the impact of a healthcare reform that standardized procedures across health providers to guarantee the timely coverage of a set of diseases. Using the universe of death records from Chile and a difference-in-differences research design, we show that mortality from the diseases covered by this reform decreased by 4.4%. The impact was larger on deaths from diseases more amenable to health care, which decreased by 7.1%. Among inpatients with covered diseases, the reform led to a 6.9% decrease in deaths and a 15% increase in surgeries. Our results suggest that this reform increased life expectancy by 0.39 years, creating benefits that largely outweighed its costs.

Suggested Citation

  • Menares, F.; & Muñoz, P.;, 2023. "The Impact of a Disease-Specific Health Insurance Reform on Mortality," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 23/10, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York.
    • Handle: RePEc:yor:hectdg:23/10
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    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Starr-McCluer, Martha, 1996. "Health Insurance and Precautionary Savings," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 86(1), pages 285-295, March.
    2. W. Kip Viscusi, 2018. "Pricing Lives: International Guideposts for Safety," The Economic Record, The Economic Society of Australia, vol. 94(S1), pages 1-10, June.
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    More about this item

    Keywords

    health insurance; mortality; health reform;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • I13 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Insurance, Public and Private
    • I14 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Inequality
    • I15 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health and Economic Development
    • I18 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health

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