Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/126596 
Year of Publication: 
2015
Series/Report no.: 
Working Paper No. 204
Publisher: 
University of Zurich, Department of Economics, Zurich
Abstract: 
From 2004 to 2012, the German social health insurance levied a co-payment for the first doctor visit in a calendar quarter. We develop a new model for estimating the effect of such a co-payment on the individual number of visits per quarter. The model allows for a one time increase in the otherwise constant hazard rate determining the timing of doctor visits, and uses a difference-in-differences strategy to identify the reform effect. The model can be adapted to a situation where the reporting period and the calendar quarter differ. Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, we do not find an effect of the co-payment on demand for doctor visits.
Subjects: 
count data
Poisson process
co-payment
hurdle model
JEL: 
I10
C25
Persistent Identifier of the first edition: 
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
268.97 kB





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.