title: Discrimination in waiting times by insurance type and financial soundness of German acute care hospitals.
abstract: This paper shows that patients with private health insurance (PHI) are being offered significantly shorter waiting times than patients with statutory health insurance (SHI) in German acute hospital care. This behavior may be driven by the higher expected profitability of PHI relative to SHI holders. Further, we find that hospitals offering private insurees shorter waiting times when compared with SHI holders have a significantly better financial performance than those abstaining from or with less discrimination.
authors.affiliation: KCE Belgian Health Care Knowledge Centre, Boulevard du Jardin Botanique, 55, 1000, Brussels, Belgium. Christoph.Schwierz@kce.fgov.be
authors.forename: Christoph
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Schwierz
authors.forename: Achim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wübker
authors.forename: Ansgar
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Wübker
authors.forename: Björn A
authors.initials: BA
authors.lastname: Kuchinke
mesh_terms: D000465:Algorithms; D004636:Emergency Service, Hospital / Q000191:economics*; D005858:Germany; D016304:Hospitals, Private / Q000191:economics; D006779:Hospitals, Public / Q000191:economics; D006801:Humans; D007348:Insurance, Health; D007407:Interviews as Topic; D011287:Prejudice; D017149:Private Sector; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014850:Waiting Lists