The Demand for Health Insurance among Uninsured Americans: Results of a Survey Experiment and Implications for Policy

Alan Krueger and Ilyana Kuziemko
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Ilyana Kuziemko: Princeton University

No 1306, Working Papers from Princeton University, Department of Economics, Center for Economic Policy Studies.

Abstract: Most existing work on the price elasticity of demand for health insurance focuses on employees' decisions to enroll in employer-provided plans. Yet any attempt to achieve universal coverage must focus on the uninsured, the vast majority of whom are not offered employer-sponsored insurance. In the summer of 2008, we conducted a survey experiment to assess the willingness to pay for a health plan among a large sample of uninsured Americans. The experiment yields price elasticities substantially greater than those found in most previous studies. We use these results to estimate coverage expansion under the Affordable Care Act, with and without an individual mandate. We estimate that 39 million uninsured individuals would gain coverage and find limited evidence of adverse selection.

Keywords: health insurance; universal coverage; Affordable Care Act; price elasticity of demand; United States; Obamacare (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D19 H75 I18 J32 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011-04
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (10)

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Related works:
Journal Article: The demand for health insurance among uninsured Americans: Results of a survey experiment and implications for policy (2013)
Working Paper: The Demand for Health Insurance Among Uninsured Americans: Results of a Survey Experiment and Implications for Policy (2011)
Working Paper: The Demand for Health Insurance among Uninsured Americans: Results of a Survey Experiment and Implications for Policy (2011)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:pri:cepsud:217

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