The effects of access to health insurance: Evidence from a regression discontinuity design in Peru

Noelia Bernal Lobato, Miguel Carpio and Tobias Klein

Journal of Public Economics, 2017, vol. 154, issue C, 122-136

Abstract: In many countries large parts of the population do not have access to health insurance. Peru has made an effort to change this in the early 2000s. The institutional setup gives rise to the rare opportunity to study the effects of health insurance coverage exploiting a sharp regression discontinuity design. We find large effects on utilization that are most pronounced for the provision of curative care. Individuals seeing a doctor leads to increased awareness about health problems and generates a potentially desirable form of supplier-induced demand: they decide to pay themselves for services that are in short supply.

Keywords: Public health insurance; Informal sector; Health care utilization; Regression discontinuity design; Supplier-induced demand (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I13 O12 O17 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (34)

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Related works:
Working Paper: The Effects of Access to Health Insurance for Informally Employed Individuals in Peru (2014)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:154:y:2017:i:c:p:122-136

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2017.08.008

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