TY  - JOUR
AU  - Abraham,Jean Marie
AU  - Vogt,William B.
AU  - Gaynor,Martin
TI  - Household Demand for Employer-Based Health Insurance
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 9144
PY  - 2002
Y2  - September 2002
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w9144
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w9144.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
William B. Vogt
513 Brooks Hall
Department of Economics
Terry College of Business
University of Georgia
Athens, GA  30602
Tel: 706-542-3970
Fax: 706-542-3376
E-Mail: william.b.vogt@gmail.com

Martin Gaynor
Heinz College
Carnegie Mellon University
4800 Forbes Avenue,,Room 3008
Pittsburgh, PA 15213-3890
Tel: 412/268-7933
Fax: 412/268-5338
E-Mail: mgaynor@cmu.edu
AB  - We use the 1996 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey to estimate a model of household demand for employer-based health insurance, explicitly investigating differences in behavior between households with two potential sources of coverage and those with one source. Own and cross-price elasticities are estimated for three types of health plans, including exclusive provider organizations, any provider organizations, and mixed provider organizations. We find that the premium, family size, income, and wealth significantly affect demand. Our elasticity estimates reveal an overall, small behavioral response to changes in price with respect to health plan switching and take-up. Finally, we discuss the implications of our findings with respect to employer benefit design.
ER  -