Copayments for doctor visits in Germany and the probability of visiting a physician - Evidence from a natural experiment

Farbmacher, Helmut (11. Juli 2009): Copayments for doctor visits in Germany and the probability of visiting a physician - Evidence from a natural experiment. Münchener Wirtschaftswissenschaftliche Beiträge (VWL) 2009-10

Abstract

The German health care reform of 2004 imposes a charge of 10 Euro for the first visit to a doctor in each quarter of the year. At first glance, there is no inhibiting effect of this fee on utilization in the German Socio-Economic Panel. However, this study reveals that the true effect is diluted by a special characteristic of the fee. Exploiting random variation in the interview date, this study finds a substantial effect of the new fee on the probability of visiting a physician. In addition, the identification strategy makes it possible to disentangle this effect from the influence of the contemporaneous increase of copayments for prescription drugs.

• Dokumententyp: Paper
• Publikationsform: Submitted Version
• Keywords: copayment, moral hazard, differences-in-differences
• Fakultät: Volkswirtschaft ; Volkswirtschaft > Munich Discussion Papers in Economics ; Volkswirtschaft > Munich Discussion Papers in Economics > Wirtschaftspolitik
• Themengebiete: 300 Sozialwissenschaften > 300 Sozialwissenschaft, Soziologie ; 300 Sozialwissenschaften > 330 Wirtschaft
• JEL Classification: I18, I11
• Sprache: Englisch