Private health insurance and health in a healthcare system with comprehensive public insurance

Elizabeth Baldwin, Jonas Fooken () and David Rowell
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Elizabeth Baldwin: The University of Queensland
Jonas Fooken: Macquarie University
David Rowell: The University of Queensland

Empirical Economics, 2025, vol. 68, issue 4, No 15, 2009-2040

Abstract: Abstract A large literature shows that attaining private health insurance (PHI) improves the health of individuals who do not have access to healthcare that is provided free of charge. However, even when individuals already benefit from public health insurance, complementary and supplementary PHI may benefit population health. We study the association between health and PHI for hospital care in Australia that individuals purchase in addition to a comprehensive public health insurance and the provision of free care in public hospitals. We find that hospital PHI holders have better health but identify no significant relationship between attaining hospital PHI or between policy-induced PHI and health.

Keywords: Private health insurance; Health; Mental health; Mandates (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I13 I18 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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DOI: 10.1007/s00181-024-02680-2

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