| Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha) |
SHIGENO Yukiko OSAKA CITY University, Faculty of ECONOMICS, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, 経済学部, 助教授 (90291434)
OHKUSA Yasushi OSAKA University, Institute of SOCIAL, and ECONOMIC Research ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, 社会経済研究所, 助教授 (60223757)
MIYAMOTO Mamoru Faculty of ECONOMICS, KANTO GAKUIN UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR, 経済学部, 教授 (60166204)
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| Budget Amount *help |
¥12,400,000 (Direct Cost: ¥12,400,000)
Fiscal Year 2000: ¥500,000 (Direct Cost: ¥500,000)
Fiscal Year 1999: ¥11,900,000 (Direct Cost: ¥11,900,000)
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| Research Abstract |
This research analyzes the several aspects of health insurance in Japan from both theoretical and empirical point of view. The general result is that the current public institution of health insurance in Japan should be kept but that the coinsurance rate for both the younger and the patients with minor diseases should be raised.
The summaries of the chapters are as follows.
Chapter 1 theoretically analyzes the effect of the coinsurance rate, using Grossman's health capital approach and obtains the results that given the coinsurance rate for the elderly less than 1, there is the social optimal coinsurance rate for the younger generation that is higher than the one for the elderly but less than 1. Moreover, given the coinsurance rate for the patients with serious disease which is less than 1, there is the social optimal coinsurance rate for the patients with minor diseases which is larger than the rate for those with serious diseases but less than 1.
Chapter 2 finds that social welfare impr
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oves when health insurance does not cover the minor diseases under the assumption that the hospital is the perfect agent for patients. Moreover, if the government strengthens the insurers' negotiation power and their monitoring mechanism, the higher coinsurance rate can improve the social welfare, but it is less than in the no-insurance situation.
Chapter 3 examines the choice of health care for minor illness for patients suffering from thirteen different minor ailments. Original data were obtained from a survey conducted by the authors. For the common cold, shoulder/neck pain, backache, constipation/diarrhea, eyestrain, various skin diseases, and hemorrhoids, an increase in the coinsurance rate statistically significantly lowers the demand for medical services. On the other hand, the demand for over-the-counter (OTC) medication is statistically significantly higher with an increase in the coinsurance rate for the common cold and skin diseases.
Chapter 4 obtains the result that demand for private medical insurance in Japan does not depend on the coinsurance rate in the public compulsory insurance. Therefore, the current private insurance in Japan is not the substitute for the public health insurance. Less
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