TY - JOUR
T1 - The effect of quality information on consumer health plan switching
T2 - Evidence from the Buyers Health Care Action Group
AU - Abraham, Jean M.
AU - Feldman, Roger
AU - Carlin, Caroline
AU - Christianson, Jon
N1 - Funding Information:
This project received financial support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's initiative on Changes in Health Care Financing and Organization.
PY - 2006/7
Y1 - 2006/7
N2 - We examine the factors that lead employees to search for health plan quality information and the effect of such information on the decision to switch plans. Extending Hirshleifer and Riley's model [Hirshleifer, J., Riley, J.G., 1979. The analytics of uncertainty and information-an expositional survey. Journal of Economic Literature 17 (December (4)), 1375-1421] of the economics of information, we develop a two-equation model of quality information awareness and switching behavior. We estimate the model using data from a random sample of 651 single employees from 16 firms that are members of the Buyers Health Care Action Group, a health care purchasing coalition in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region. Our empirical results do not support either a link between quality information and switching behavior, or between perceived health plan satisfaction and switching. We do, however, find that switching is influenced by changes in premiums and whether an individual has an existing relationship with a health care provider.
AB - We examine the factors that lead employees to search for health plan quality information and the effect of such information on the decision to switch plans. Extending Hirshleifer and Riley's model [Hirshleifer, J., Riley, J.G., 1979. The analytics of uncertainty and information-an expositional survey. Journal of Economic Literature 17 (December (4)), 1375-1421] of the economics of information, we develop a two-equation model of quality information awareness and switching behavior. We estimate the model using data from a random sample of 651 single employees from 16 firms that are members of the Buyers Health Care Action Group, a health care purchasing coalition in the Minneapolis-St. Paul region. Our empirical results do not support either a link between quality information and switching behavior, or between perceived health plan satisfaction and switching. We do, however, find that switching is influenced by changes in premiums and whether an individual has an existing relationship with a health care provider.
KW - Health plan decision-making
KW - Quality information
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U2 - 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2005.11.004
DO - 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2005.11.004
M3 - Article
C2 - 16704882
AN - SCOPUS:33745606685
SN - 0167-6296
VL - 25
SP - 762
EP - 781
JO - Journal of Health Economics
JF - Journal of Health Economics
IS - 4
ER -