The Effect of Health Insurance on the Demand for Appropriate Levels of Medical Care

Jerome Dugan, University of Maryland

This study investigates the impact of health insurance coverage status on patient demand for appropriate levels of medical care. A discrete choice framework and multinomial logistic regression are used to estimate the effect of different types of health insurance coverage on the probability of a patient scheduling different combinations of medical care following diagnosis/acute event. The study sample consists of adults ages 19 to 64 who have been diagnosed with a disease with a "rapid onset" from the 2008 to 2012 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey. The results show that health insurance coverage is associated with increased use of appropriate levels of physician care, but does not promote increased use of cost-effective routine care among the publicly insured.