title: Heterogeneous Effects of a Nonlinear Price Schedule for Outpatient Care.
abstract: Nonlinear price schedules generally have heterogeneous effects on health-care demand. We develop and apply a finite mixture bivariate probit model to analyze whether there are heterogeneous reactions to the introduction of a nonlinear price schedule in the German statutory health insurance system. In administrative insurance claims data from the largest German health insurance plan, we find that some individuals strongly react to the new price schedule while a second group of individuals does not react. Post-estimation analyses reveal that the group of the individuals who do not react to the reform includes the relatively sick. These results are in line with forward-looking behavior: Individuals who are already sick expect that they will hit the kink in the price schedule and thus are less sensitive to the co-payment. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
authors: Munich Center for the Economics of Aging (MEA), Max Planck Society, Munich, Germany.
authors: Helmut
authors: H
authors: Farbmacher
authors: PMV forschungsgruppe at the Department of Child and Adolescents Psychiatry, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
authors: Peter
authors: P
authors: Ihle
authors: PMV forschungsgruppe at the Department of Child and Adolescents Psychiatry, University of Cologne, Cologne, Germany.
authors: Ingrid
authors: I
authors: Schubert
authors: Department of Economics, University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
authors: Joachim
authors: J
authors: Winter
authors: Department of Economics, University of Munich, Munich, Germany.
authors: Amelie
authors: A
authors: Wuppermann
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000553:Ambulatory Care / Q000191:economics*; D003132:Commerce / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D058005:General Practitioners / Q000191:economics; D005858:Germany; D006301:Health Services Needs and Demand / Q000191:economics*; D006304:Health Status; D006801:Humans; D007345:Insurance Claim Review; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D017059:Models, Econometric; D009819:Office Visits / Q000191:economics*; D013038:Specialization / Q000191:economics; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: bivariate probit; demand for health care; finite mixture models; nonlinear price schedule