Mandates and the Affordability of Health Care

Sherry A. Glied

No 14545, NBER Working Papers from National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc

Abstract: This paper examines the economic rationale of affordability exemptions in the context of a health insurance mandate. On its face, an affordability exemption makes little sense-- it exempts people from purchasing a good that policymakers believe benefits them. I provide an economic definition of affordability and discuss how it is implemented in the contexts of food, housing, and health care. Affordability standards are frequently used in food and housing policy making, but both empirically and theoretically health care operates quite differently than do these other merit goods. These differences help explain why the use of affordability in health policymaking is so different from its use in these other contexts. I conclude with a discussion of the relationship between mandates and exemptions in other health care systems.

JEL-codes: I18 I32 I38 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2008-12
New Economics Papers: this item is included in nep-hea and nep-ias
Note: EH
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Published as Sherry Glied, 2009. "Mandates and the Affordability of Health Care," INQUIRY: The Journal of Health Care Organization, Provision, and Financing, vol 46(2), pages 203-214.

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