Moral hazard matters: measuring relative rates of underinsurance using threshold measures.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To illustrate the impact of moral hazard for estimating relative rates of underinsurance and to present an adjustment method to correct for this source of bias.

Data sources/study setting

Secondary data from the 2005 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) are used in this study. We restrict attention to households that report having employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) for all members during the entire 2005 calendar year.

Study design

Individuals or households are often classified as underinsured if out-of-pocket spending on medical care relative to income exceeds some threshold. In this paper, we show that, without adjustment, this common threshold measure of underinsurance will underestimate the number with low levels of insurance coverage due to moral haza

SUBMITTER: Abraham JM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2875761 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature