Study Results from National Institutes of Health in the Area of Science and Technology Published (Effect of supplementary private health insurance on inpatient utilisation: Evidence from Malaysia): Science – Science and Technology

2023 MAR 14 (NewsRx) -- By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Daily News -- Fresh data on science and technology are presented in a new report. According to news reporting originating from the National Institutes of Health by NewsRx correspondents, research stated, “Supplementary private health insurance (PHI) provides better access to healthcare, improves health outcomes, potentially lowers the costs for health systems and supports the social security system.”

Our news correspondents obtained a quote from the research from National Institutes of Health: “Improperly regulated PHI, however, may aggravate inequity of access towards preferential care and encourage moral hazard among PHI purchasers, altering the health-seeking behaviour, which is often observed through the pattern of health care utilisation. We investigated the effect of PHI ownership on private inpatient care utilisation, its frequency of admission and length of stay by conducting secondary data analysis of the Malaysian National Health Morbidity Survey (NHMS) 2015 data, a nationally representative community health survey. Malaysian adults 18 years of age and above who utilised inpatient healthcare facilities were included. In this cross-sectional study, we addressed the endogeneity effect of health insurance by employing instrumental variable estimation and a two-stage residual inclusion analysis. We found a significant increase in private inpatient utilisation among those who owned PHI compared to those who did not (b = 4.39, p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in the frequency of admission and length of stay.”

According to the news reporters, the research concluded: “The increase in private inpatient utilisation among PHI owners may reflect the demand for timely care and hospitality provided by the private sector, potentially exacerbating the moral hazard behaviour among PHI owners. Further exploration of this issue could impact future healthcare systems financing designs and PHI regulation.”

For more information on this research see: Effect of supplementary private health insurance on inpatient utilisation: Evidence from Malaysia. Heliyon, 2023,9(3):e14025. (Heliyon - http://www.heliyon.com). The publisher for Heliyon is Elsevier.

A free version of this journal article is available at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.heliyon.2023.e14025.

Our news editors report that more information may be obtained by contacting Nur Zahirah Balqis-Ali, Institute for Health Systems Research, National Institutes of Health, Ministry of Health, Block B2, No. 1, Jalan Setia Murni U13, 52, Seksyen U13 Bandar Setia Alam, 40170 Shah Alam, Selangor Malaysia. Additional authors for this research include Anis-Syakira Jailani, Weng Hong Fun, Suhana Jawahir, Sondi Sararaks, Grace H.Y. Lee.

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