Does independent needs assessment limit supply-side moral hazard in long-term care?

Rudy Douven (r.c.m.h.douven@cpb.nl), Pieter Bakx and Frederik T. Schut
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Rudy Douven: CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis

No 327, CPB Discussion Paper from CPB Netherlands Bureau for Economic Policy Analysis

Abstract: The decision about the amount and type of care that a patient needs may be entrusted to health care providers or be delegated to an independent assessor. An independent assessment limits the scope for supply-side moral hazard and occurs frequently in long-term care (LTC), e.g. in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Switzerland, and Japan. The characteristics of LTC, the potential lack of incentives for efficient use for consumers, providers and third-party payers, and the absence of other restrictions of supply and demand, suggest that there may be room for excessive LTC use in the Netherlands, so there might be a case for independent needs assessment. Unique individual level data about LTC-eligibility decisions and use show that consumers make use of the indicated type of care but that for virtually all subgroups in the population there is considerable non-take-up, meaning that the independent assessment does not limit the amount of care that patients use. This finding suggests that the independent needs assessment may only have a small effect on preventing supply-side moral hazard in LTC.

JEL-codes: H51 I11 I13 I18 L13 L33 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016-03
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-age and nep-hea
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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