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51. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Medizinische Informatik, Biometrie und Epidemiologie

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Medizinische Informatik, Biometrie und Epidemiologie e. V. (gmds)

10. - 14.09.2006, Leipzig

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A physician fee that applies to acute but not to preventive care

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  • Stefan Felder - Otto-von-Guericke Universität, Medizinische Fakultät, Magdeburg
  • Andreas Werblow - Otto-von-Guericke Universität, Medizinische Fakultät, Magdeburg

Deutsche Gesellschaft für Medizinische Informatik, Biometrie und Epidemiologie e.V. (gmds). 51. Jahrestagung der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Medizinische Informatik, Biometrie und Epidemiologie. Leipzig, 10.-14.09.2006. Düsseldorf, Köln: German Medical Science; 2006. Doc06gmds035

The electronic version of this article is the complete one and can be found online at: http://www.egms.de/en/meetings/gmds2006/06gmds289.shtml

Published: September 1, 2006

© 2006 Felder et al.
This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/deed.en). You are free: to Share – to copy, distribute and transmit the work, provided the original author and source are credited.

Outline

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A certain German sickness fund offers 240 € per year to its clients if they pay the first 300€ of their health care bills, except for consultations of physicians at which a flat rate of 20 € applies. This paper studies the effects of this deductible scheme on health care demand by comparing about 5,000 participants with a control sample, using the insurer’s claims data covering inpatient care, prescription drugs and ambulatory care. The data extend to three years including two years preceding and the year of the start of the program. We apply a parametric approach which models the choice of the deductible program, the probability of positive expenses, as well as the demand for health care services conditional on having positive demand. Instruments for the participation decision are used and the results compared with those of an exogenous specification of the program choice. The physician fee appears to significantly decrease the number of visits as well as the expenses for curative care. By contrast, prevention activities, not subject to the co-payment, remain constant.