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KMID : 1170320100160030091
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Korean Journal of Health Economics and Policy
2010 Volume.16 No. 3 p.91 ~ p.114
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An Estimation of the Price Elasticity of Demand for Health Care after Implementation of Office Visit Copayment for Medical Aid Beneficiaries
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Choi Ji-Sook
Jo Chang-Ik
Kim Se-Ra
Choi Yong-Jun
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Abstract
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The purpose of this study was to empirically investigate the effectiveness of the Office Visit Copayment System(OVCS) in Medicaid type 1 beneficiaries which has been implemented since July 1st, 2007. The specific aims of this study are to describe the relationship between the physician visit copayment and the outpatient utilization in terms of the price elasticity of demand and to describe the copayment effect in view of the cross elasticity of demand. The results are as follows: First, the price elasticity estimations showed that an increase in the level of copayment for physician visits by 10% was associated with lowered physician visits by 0.12%. Especially the effect of rising copayment levels limited access to physician visits in pre-OVCS beneficiaries. Second, the cross elasticity results from this study showed that public health center visits were understood as complements of physician visits, with 10% increase in physician visit copayment associated with 0.09% decrease in public health center visit. Further research is needed to explore a full assessment of the effectiveness of the OVCS and to identify whether increasing the level of copayment in Medicaid type 1 beneficiaries limits necessary access of healthcare utilization that might lead to a decrease in health status.
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KEYWORD
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Medicaid, Copayment, Price Elasticity, Cross Elasticity
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