No-claim refunds and healthcare use
Avdic,Daniel Decker,Simon Karlsson,Martin Salm,Martin
Avdic,Daniel
Decker,Simon
Karlsson,Martin
Salm,Martin
Abstract
No-claim refunds are cost-control instruments which stipulate a payback agreement contingent on one or more claim-free years. We study how such no-claim refunds affect claiming behavior using claims data from a large German health insurer and a policy that increased the refund size for certain plans. We propose a method to decompose the effect on claims into behavioral and non-behavioral components, and show that individuals responded to the refund policy by reducing claims by eight percent on average. The effect persisted for several years; behavioral responses were stronger for clients with more to gain from the policy; and reductions in claims were not restricted to treatments of questionable medical value.
Description
Publisher Copyright: © 2023 The Author(s)
Date
2024-02
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Research Projects
Organizational Units
Journal Issue
Keywords
Health insurance, Moral hazard, No-claim refund
Citation
Avdic, D, Decker, S, Karlsson, M & Salm, M 2024, 'No-claim refunds and healthcare use', Journal of Public Economics, vol. 230, 105061. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jpubeco.2023.105061