Findings from M. Kaneva and Co-Authors Reveals New Information on Healthcare Economics (Attitudes to reform: Could a cooperative health insurance scheme work in Russia?)

2019 NOV 28 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- A new study on Economics - Healthcare Economics is now available. According to news reporting from Moscow, Russia, by NewsRx journalists, research stated, “As for all health systems, in Russia, the demand for medical care is greater than its health system is able to guarantee the supply of. In this context, removing services from the state guaranteed package is an option that is receiving serious consideration.”

Funders for this research include Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, UCL School of Slavonic and East European Studies.

The news correspondents obtained a quote from the research, “In this paper, we examine the attitudes of the Russian population to such a reform. Exploiting a widely-used methodology, we explore the population’s willingness to pay for cooperative health insurance. Distinguishing between socioeconomic and demographic factors, health-related indicators and risk aversion we find, consistent with other literature, positive income and risk aversion effects. We interpret the former as evidence that the Russian population is not opposed to the idea of progressive redistribution, to pool the costs of health-related risks; and the latter as evidence that risk-averse individuals demand more insurance coverage. In exploring these results further, we show that cognitive bias is important: overestimating the benefits leads to the purchase of additional insurance, while underestimating lowers demand for insurance.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “Our overall conclusion is that the introduction of a supplementary cooperative health insurance scheme in Russia could increase the accessibility of healthcare, lower the tendency for informal payments, incentivize the personal maintenance of good health and create a new source of funding for public healthcare.”

For more information on this research see: Attitudes to reform: Could a cooperative health insurance scheme work in Russia? International Journal of Health Economics and Management, 2019;19(3-4):371-394.

Our news journalists report that additional information may be obtained by contacting M. Kaneva, International Laboratory for Healthcare Economics and Its Reforms, Gaidar Institute for Economic Policy, Gazetny Pereulok 3-5, Building 1, Office 471, Moscow, Russia, 125993. Additional authors for this research include C.J. Gerry, N. Avxentiev and V. Baidin.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10754-019-09260-3. This DOI is a link to an online electronic document that is either free or for purchase, and can be your direct source for a journal article and its citation.

(Our reports deliver fact-based news of research and discoveries from around the world.)