Income Disparity, Inequity Aversion and the Design of the Healthcare System

John Leach ()

Scandinavian Journal of Economics, 2009, vol. 111, issue 2, pages 277-297

Abstract: An "ex post" social welfare function is used to evaluate alternative healthcare systems. If a society is averse to inequality and there is some income disparity, social welfare under private healthcare insurance is sometimes higher and sometimes lower than social welfare under public healthcare. However, a third system-public healthcare with the option to purchase supplemental healthcare insurance-is always socially preferred to private healthcare insurance. Moreover, it is either socially preferred to public healthcare or equivalent to it. Copyright © The editors of the "Scandinavian Journal of Economics" 2009. .

Date: 2009

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Scandinavian Journal of Economics is edited by Jonas Agell, Nils Gottfries and Espen R. Moen

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