TY - JOUR
T1 - Evaluating health insurance
T2 - A review of the theoretical foundations
AU - Nyman, John A.
PY - 2006/10
Y1 - 2006/10
N2 - Over the last 50 years, the theoretical basis of the value of health insurance has transformed itself from one based primarily on a gain from risk avoidance and a welfare loss from the additional medical care purchased by those who are insured, to one based primarily on the welfare gain from the additional medical care purchased by those who are insured. This transformation reflects (1) an increasing realization of the importance of health care in the demand for insurance, and (2) an increasing recognition that insurance, even insurance that pays off by paying for care, acts to transfer income from the healthy to the ill. This article traces the development of the theory of the value of health insurance using the above two themes as the basis for its organization.
AB - Over the last 50 years, the theoretical basis of the value of health insurance has transformed itself from one based primarily on a gain from risk avoidance and a welfare loss from the additional medical care purchased by those who are insured, to one based primarily on the welfare gain from the additional medical care purchased by those who are insured. This transformation reflects (1) an increasing realization of the importance of health care in the demand for insurance, and (2) an increasing recognition that insurance, even insurance that pays off by paying for care, acts to transfer income from the healthy to the ill. This article traces the development of the theory of the value of health insurance using the above two themes as the basis for its organization.
KW - Expected utility theory
KW - Health insurance
KW - Income transfers
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=33750455123&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=33750455123&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1057/palgrave.gpp.2510103
DO - 10.1057/palgrave.gpp.2510103
M3 - Review article
AN - SCOPUS:33750455123
SN - 1018-5895
VL - 31
SP - 720
EP - 738
JO - Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance: Issues and Practice
JF - Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance: Issues and Practice
IS - 4
ER -