title: Private health insurance: new measures of a complex and changing industry.
abstract: Private health insurance benefit payments are an integral component of estimates of national health expenditures. Recent analyses indicate that the insurance industry has undergone significant changes since the mid-1970's. As a result of these study findings and corresponding changes to estimating techniques, private health insurance estimates have been revised upward. This has had a major impact on national health expenditure estimates. This article describes the changes that have occurred in the industry, discusses some of the implications of those changes, presents a new methodology to measure private health insurance and the resulting estimate levels, and then examines concepts that underpin these estimates.
mesh_terms: D005069:Evaluation Studies as Topic; D005249:Fees and Charges / Q000639:trends; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000639:trends; D007348:Insurance, Health / Q000145:classification*; D008722:Methods; D014481:United States