The Relationship between Health Insurance and Demand for Medical Care

• Main Authors: Hung, Wei-Ling, 洪瑋伶
• Other Authors: Jason Tsai
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2007
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/67647362673451515274

碩士 === 國立臺北大學 === 合作經濟學系 === 95 === Since the implementation of the National Health Insurance (NHI), national health expenditure is rapidly increasing, especially outpatient services. In 1998 NHI had the financial difficult position, the Bureau of National Health Insurance implemented co-payment, the Hospital Global Budget (HGB) etc. to control usefully the adequate growth of health care expenditure. However, empirical study found that payment of medical expense increased continuously after co-payment system had introduced. Thus we need to know the result from invalid effect of co-payment to control health care demand or other factors of health care demand. The purpose of this study is to analyze health insurance payment, include co-payment system, the Global Budget, and commercial health insurance, affects directly and indirectly people’s use of medical resource. Furthermore, the study will evaluate other economical and the non-economic factors influence the behavior of seeking care. The empirical data was used Logistic regression model to analyze health insurance, demographic variables, price, time, and so on, investigate the determinants of people’s demand for medical care under mild and severe symptom. The result show that only fourteen variables involve cognition of outpatient services for Chinese medicine, satisfaction score on appropriate outpatient services, satisfaction score of the prescription on chronic diseases, effects of insurance payment on price, significantly influence the choice to outpatient services of western medicine under mild symptom. On the other way, there are night variables which have more obvious effect on the demand for medical care under severe symptom, include effects of insurance payment on price, effects of compensating insurance premium, deductible expense for Chinese medicine, and satisfaction score of price on Chinese medicine. In conclusion, the government desires to control health care expenditure from demand side, it should also pay attention to health care quality and improve provider behavior.