On resource allocation in health care: The case of concierge medicine

Adam Leive, Guy David and Molly Candon

Journal of Health Economics, 2023, vol. 90, issue C

Abstract: Resource allocation generally involves a tension between efficiency and equity, particularly in health care. The growth in exclusive physician arrangements using non-linear prices is leading to consumer segmentation with theoretically ambiguous welfare implications. We study concierge medicine, in which physicians only provide care to patients paying a retainer fee. We find limited evidence of selection based on health and stronger evidence of selection based on income. Using a matching strategy that leverages the staggered adoption of concierge medicine, we find large spending increases and no average mortality effects for patients impacted by the switch to concierge medicine.

Keywords: Equity-efficiency tradeoff; Health care; Concierge medicine (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D61 I11 I14 L14 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:90:y:2023:i:c:s016762962300053x

DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2023.102776

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