Private Health Insurance and Inpatient Service Utilisation among Adults and Elderly People under Taiwan’s National Insurance Programme

Wei-Hua Tian, Joseph J Tien, Chin-Shyan Chen and Tsai-Ching Liu
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Wei-Hua Tian: Department of Economics, National Cheng Kung University, No.1, University Rd., Tainan, 701 Taiwan.
Joseph J Tien: Department of Insurance, Tamkang University, 151 Ying-Chuan Rd., Tamsui, Taipei County 251, Taiwan. Email: jilltien@mail.tku.edu.tw
Chin-Shyan Chen: National Taipei University, 151 University Rd., San Shia, Taipei 237, Taiwan.
Tsai-Ching Liu: National Taipei University, 151 University Rd., San Shia, Taipei 237, Taiwan.

The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice, 2012, vol. 37, issue 4, 655-677

Abstract: Previous studies have shown that demand for the quantity of medical services has increased since the implementation of the National Health Insurance (NHI) programme. This paper extends the investigation to the relationship between private health insurance and inpatient service utilisation under the NHI programme in Taiwan. By using nationwide population-based claim data, we utilise a two-part model to investigate whether individuals with private health insurance have higher probabilities of utilising inpatient services. We further examine the effect of those individuals with private health insurance on the inpatient length of stay for those utilising inpatient services. The results indicate that individuals with private health insurance are more likely to use inpatient services and spend more days in a hospital compared to those without private health insurance. We propose that this finding provides a good reference for government and insurance companies when formulating relevant health insurance policies.

Date: 2012
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