New Findings on Health Economics and Policy from University of South Florida Summarized (The Value Employees Place on Health Insurance Plans: A Discrete-Choice Experiment)

2019 AUG 29 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Current study results on Health Economics and Policy have been published. According to news originating from Tampa, United States, by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “The federally-facilitated Health Insurance Marketplace-also known as the Health Insurance Exchange-was designed as a tool to help people purchase insurance plans, yet many Americans remain uninsured, partially due to rising premiums. One possible strategy to stabilize its premiums is to encourage healthier people to purchase their plans through the Marketplace instead of through their employers.”

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from the University of South Florida, “This study examined the values that single adults with employer-based coverage place on health insurance plan attributes using a discrete-choice experiment (DCE). As part of an online survey, each respondent completed 28 paired comparisons trading off four attributes: source of coverage, plan type, monthly out-of-pocket premium, and quality of coverage. Based on our results (N=2207), single employees slightly preferred their employer over the Marketplace as a source of coverage (0.726 odds ratio; p value <0.01). Single employees would be willing to switch to the Marketplace for a US$25 reduction in monthly premiums. Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) plans were overwhelmingly preferred over all other plan types, especially compared to Fee-for-Service (FFS) plans (4.230 odds ratio; p value <0.01). The predicted probability that a health insurance plan from the Marketplace would be chosen ranged from 42 to 43.7%.”

According to the news editors, the research concluded: “This study demonstrated that a US$25 subsidy or providing slightly more generous coverage (Bronze-Silver) would motivate employees to purchase PPO plans through the Marketplace, potentially improving its risk pooling, reducing employers’ administrative burden, and enhancing labor mobility.”

For more information on this research see: The Value Employees Place on Health Insurance Plans: A Discrete-Choice Experiment. Applied Health Economics and Health Policy, 2019;():. Applied Health Economics and Health Policy can be contacted at: Adis International LTD, 41 Centorian Dr, Private Bag 65901, Mairangi Bay, Auckland 10, New Zealand.

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from S. Poteet, Dept. of Economics, University of South Florida, 4202 E Fowler Avenue, CMC205, Tampa, FL 33620, United States.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1007/s40258-019-00507-1. 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 Applied Health Economics and Health Policy is: Adis International LTD, 41 Centorian Dr, Private Bag 65901, Mairangi Bay, Auckland 10, New Zealand.

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