Linked Life Data

19756797

Source:http://linkedlifedata.com/resource/pubmed/id/19756797

Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
3
pubmed:dateCreated
2010-4-27
pubmed:abstractText
In response to increasing health expenditures and a high number of physician visits, the German government introduced a copayment for ambulatory care in 2004 for individuals with statutory health insurance (SHI). Because persons with private insurance were exempt from the copayments, this health-care reform can be regarded as a natural experiment. We used a difference-in-difference approach to examine whether the new copayment effectively reduced the overall demand for physician visits and to explore whether it acted as a deterrent to vulnerable groups, such as those with low income or chronic conditions. We found that there was no significant reduction in the number of physician visits among SHI members compared to our control group. At the same time, we did not observe a deterrent effect among vulnerable individuals. Thus, the copayment has failed to reduce the demand for physician visits. It is likely that this result is due to the design of the copayment scheme, as the copayment is low and is paid only for the first physician visit per quarter.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Jun
pubmed:issn
1618-7601
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Electronic
pubmed:volume
11
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
331-41
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed:year
2010
pubmed:articleTitle
Copayments for ambulatory care in Germany: a natural experiment using a difference-in-difference approach.
pubmed:affiliation
Department for Health Services Management, Munich School of Management, LMU Munich, Schackstr. 4, 80539, Munich, Germany. schreyoegg@bwl.lmu.de
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article