Researchers at Huazhong University of Science and Technology Target Health Insurance (The spillover effects of health insurance benefit mandates on…

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Researchers at Huazhong University of Science and Technology Target Health Insurance (The spillover effects of health insurance benefit mandates on public insurance coverage: Evidence from veterans)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Weekly News -- A new study on Health Insurance is now available. According to news reporting originating in Hubei, People's Republic of China, by VerticalNews journalists, research stated, "This study examines how regulations in private health insurance markets affect coverage of public insurance. We focus on mental health parity laws, which mandate private health insurance to provide equal coverage for mental and physical health services."

The news reporters obtained a quote from the research from the Huazhong University of Science and Technology, "The implementation of mental health parity laws may improve a quality dimension of private health insurance but at increased costs. We graphically develop a conceptual framework and then empirically examine whether the regulations shift individuals from private to public insurance. We exploit state-by-year variation in policy implementation in 1999-2008 and focus on a sample of veterans, who have better access to public insurance than non -veterans. Using data from the Current Population Survey, we find that the parity laws reduce employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) coverage by 2.1% points."

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: "The drop in ESI is largely offset by enrollment gains in public insurance, namely through the Veterans Affairs (VA) benefit and Medicaid/Medicare programs."

For more information on this research see: The spillover effects of health insurance benefit mandates on public insurance coverage: Evidence from veterans. Journal of Health Economics, 2017;55():45-60. Journal of Health Economics can be contacted at: Elsevier Science Bv, PO Box 211, 1000 Ae Amsterdam, Netherlands. (Elsevier - www.elsevier.com; Journal of Health Economics - www.journals.elsevier.com/journal-of-health-economics/)

Our news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained by contacting J.Q. Ye, Huazhong University of Science & Technology, Sch Econ, Wuhan 430074, Hubei, People's Republic of China.

The direct object identifier (DOI) for that additional information is: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jhealeco.2017.06.006. 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.

Keywords for this news article include: Hubei, People's Republic of China, Asia, Health Insurance, Huazhong University of Science and Technology.