Physician pricing behavior: Evidence from an Australian experiment

Serena Yu, Kees van Gool, Jane Hall and Denzil Fiebig

Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, 2019, vol. 161, issue C, 20-34

Abstract: We examine the unregulated pricing behavior of physicians in response to an exogenous decrease in patient entitlements under a government scheme providing insurance for high out-of-pocket medical costs. We use survey-linked administrative data to estimate the causal effects of the policy change on consultation fees. Adopting a quasi-experimental difference-in-difference model, we find that in response, physicians with knowledge of the patient's eligibility raised consultation fees by an average 12%. The results show significant unintended consequences of the policy change, indicating that a physician's knowledge of patient eligibility for healthcare benefits may allow them to affect demand for their services.

Keywords: Health providers; Policy evaluation; Health insurance; Applied microeconomics (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D04 D22 I12 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jeborg:v:161:y:2019:i:c:p:20-34

DOI: 10.1016/j.jebo.2019.03.008

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