The Role of Agents and Brokers in the Market for Health Insurance

Pinar Karaca-Mandic, Roger Feldman and Peter Graven

Working Papers from U.S. Census Bureau, Center for Economic Studies

Abstract: Health insurance markets in the United States are characterized by imperfect information, complex products, and substantial search frictions. Insurance agents and brokers play a significant role in helping employers navigate these problems. However, little is known about the relation between the structure of the agent/broker market and access and affordability of insurance. This paper aims to fill this gap by investigating the influence of agents/brokers on health insurance decisions of small firms, which are particularly vulnerable to problems of financing health insurance. Using a unique membership database from the National Association of Health Underwriters together with a nationally representative survey of employers, we find that small firms in more competitive agent/broker markets are more likely to offer health insurance and at lower premiums. Moreover, premiums are less dispersed in more competitive agent/broker markets.

Pages: 46 pages
Date: 2013-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea and nep-ias
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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https://www2.census.gov/ces/wp/2013/CES-WP-13-58.pdf First version, 2013 (application/pdf)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:cen:wpaper:13-58

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