The Social Value of Health Insurance: Results from Ghana

Sílvia Garcia-Mandicó, Arndt Reichert and Christoph Strupat

Journal of Public Economics, 2021, vol. 194, issue C

Abstract: We use the roll-out of the national health insurance in Ghana to assess the cushioning effect of coverage on the financial consequences of health shocks and resulting changes in coping behaviors. We find a strong reduction in medical expenditures, preventing households from cutting non-food consumption and causing a decrease in the volume of received remittances as well as labor supply of healthy adult household members. Moreover, we present evidence that the insurance scheme reduced the likelihood that households experiencing a health shock pulled their children out of school in order to put them to work. Avoidance of such costly coping mechanisms is potentially an important part of the social value of formal health insurance.

Keywords: Insurance; Social protection; Health shocks; Child labor; Ghana (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D10 I13 O12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (11)

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Working Paper: The Social Value of Health Insurance Results from Ghana (2019)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:pubeco:v:194:y:2021:i:c:s004727272030178x

DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2020.104314

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