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THE AUSTRALIAN PRIVATE HEALTH INSURANCE BOOM: WAS IT SUBSIDIES OR LIBERALISED REGULATION?
Author(s) -
FRECH H.E.,
HOPKINS SANDRA,
MACDONALD GARRY
Publication year - 2003
Publication title -
economic papers: a journal of applied economics and policy
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.245
H-Index - 19
eISSN - 1759-3441
pISSN - 0812-0439
DOI - 10.1111/j.1759-3441.2003.tb00336.x
Subject(s) - wish , subsidy , citation , boom , schools of economic thought , library science , political science , economics , sociology , law , engineering , neoclassical economics , environmental engineering , anthropology , computer science
Summary Over the period 1997 to 2000, the Australian government introduced two waves of price subsidies, then liberalised regulation to encourage private health insurance. Most of the increase in coverage occurred after the liberalization. Thus, it appears that this policy change rather than the earlier subsidies, explains most of the increase. We explore the relative impact of the different policy changes using trend analysis and careful attention to timing. While much of the increase in coverage may be attributed to liberalised regulation, the price subsidy did increase coverage. The increase was commensurate with existing estimates of the price elasticity of demand for health insurance.