Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/204908 
Year of Publication: 
2018
Series/Report no.: 
Discussion Papers No. 18-08
Publisher: 
University of Bern, Department of Economics, Bern
Abstract: 
Choice-based health insurance systems allow individuals to select a health plan that fits their needs. However, bounded rationality and limited attention may lead to sub-optimal insurance coverage and higher-than-expected out-of-pocket payments. In this paper, we study the impact of providing personalized information on health plan choices in a laboratory experiment. We seek to more closely mimic real-life choices by randomly providing an incentivized distraction to some individuals. We find that providing personalized information significantly improves health plan choices. The positive effect is even larger and longer-lasting if individuals are distracted from their original task. In addition to providing decision support, receiving personalized information restores the awareness of the choice setting to a level comparable to the case without distraction thus reducing inertia. Our results indicate that increasing transparency of the health insurance system and providing tailored information can help individuals to make better choices and reduce their out-of-pocket expenditures.
Subjects: 
health insurance choice
decision under uncertainty
limited attention
information
laboratory experiment
JEL: 
I13
D83
C91
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size
659.46 kB





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