HEALTH INSURANCE COVERAGE, INCOME DISTRIBUTION AND HEALTHCARE QUALITY IN LOCAL HEALTHCARE MARKETS
构建了一个地方医疗系统的理论模型，分析消费者、保险公司和医疗服务提供者的互动，发现收入与健康异质性下医疗质量供给不足，并说明保险覆盖改革可纠正市场失灵，且公众理解覆盖与质量关联时更支持改革。
We develop a theoretical model of a local healthcare system in which consumers, health insurance companies, and healthcare providers interact with each other in markets for health insurance and healthcare services. When income and health status are heterogeneous, and healthcare quality is associated with fixed costs, the market equilibrium level of healthcare quality will be underprovided. Thus, healthcare reform provisions and proposals to cover the uninsured can be interpreted as an attempt to correct this market failure. We illustrate with a numerical example that if consumers at the local level clearly understand the linkages between health insurance coverage and the quality of local healthcare services, health insurance coverage proposals are more likely to enjoy public support.