An overlapping generations approach to price policies in privatehealthcare insurance. The Catalan case

Identifier:  PC:2218

Handle: https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11797/PC2218

Authors:  Oliva Furés, Martí; Carles Lavila, Misericordia

Abstract:
We analyze premium policies and price dispersion among private healthcare insurance firms from an overlapping-generations model. The model shows that firms that apply equal premium to all policyholders and firms that set premiums according to the risk of insured can coexist in the short run, whereas coexistence is unlikely in the long run because it requires the coincidence of economic growth and interest rates. We find support for the model’s results in the Catalan health insurance industry. Keywords: Economic theory, price policies, health insurance, health economics, overlapping-generations. JEL Classifications: I11 / L11 / L23