Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research Reports Findings in Health Services (The role of health insurance literacy in the process and outcomes of choosing a health insurance policy in the Netherlands): Health and Medicine – Health Services

Education Daily Report

2023 OCT 04 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Education Daily Report -- New research on Health and Medicine - Health Services is the subject of a report. According to news originating from Utrecht, Netherlands, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “In several countries, citizens are expected to be critical consumers when choosing a health insurance policy. However, there are indications that citizens do not always have the sufficient skills, so called health insurance literacy (HIL), to do this.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, “We investigated whether the level of HIL among Dutch citizens is related to the way in which they experience the process of choosing a policy, and furthermore whether it is related to their health insurance choices. We obtained information by sending questionnaires to members of the Nivel Dutch Health Care Consumer Panel in 2020. Of the 1,500 approached, 806 panel members participated (response rate 54%). Our results indicate that, compared to those with a high HIL, respondents with a low HIL more often find choosing a health insurance policy difficult, not interesting, and boring, and less often consider it important and worthwhile. Furthermore, they make less use of the opportunity to switch from one health insurer to another. However, they do still opt for a supplementary insurance policy and a voluntary deductible to the same extent as citizens with a high HIL. We conclude that the HIL level among Dutch citizens is related to the way in which they experience the process of choosing a health insurance policy and to the extent to which they switch from one insurer to another. But it is not related to their health insurance choices.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “Follow-up research should focus on how citizens with a low HIL can be better supported when choosing a health insurance policy.”

For more information on this research see: The role of health insurance literacy in the process and outcomes of choosing a health insurance policy in the Netherlands. BMC Health Services Research, 2023;23(1):1002. BMC Health Services Research can be contacted at: Bmc, Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9XW, England. (BioMed Central - http://www.biomedcentral.com/; BMC Health Services Research - http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmchealthservres/)

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from Laurens Holst, NIVEL, Netherlands Institute for Health Services Research, PO Box 1568, Utrecht, 3500 BN, Netherlands. Additional authors for this research include Adriana Elisabeth Maria Brabers, Jeannette Josepha Dingena Johanna Maria Rademakers and Judith Danielle de Jong.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1186/s12913-023-09960-0. 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.

The publisher’s contact information for the journal BMC Health Services Research is: Bmc, Campus, 4 Crinan St, London N1 9XW, England.