Approaches to Estimating the Health State Dependence of the Utility Function
探讨健康状态如何影响非医疗消费的边际效用，并分析这种依赖性对健康保险最优结构和生命周期储蓄的影响，为公共财政研究提供理论基础。
If the shape of the utility function varies with health status, this will affect the economic analysis of a number of central problems in public finance, including the optimal structure of health insurance and optimal life-cycle savings. We define health state dependence as the effect of health on the marginal utility of a constant amount of nonmedical consumption. A priori, the sign (let alone the magnitude) of any health state dependence is ambiguous. On the one hand, the marginal utility of consumption could decline with deteriorating health (negative state dependence), as many consumption goods—such as travel—are likely complements to good health. In this case, the optimal amount of health insurance benefits would be lower than with state-independent utility, and optimal lifecycle savings would decline (assuming health is expected to decline over the life cycle). On the other hand, the marginal utility of consumption could increase with deteriorating health (positive state dependence), as other consumption goods—such as prepared meals or assistance with self-care—may be substitutes for good health. If there is positive state-dependent utility, the optimal amount of health insurance benefits would be higher than with state-independent utility, and optimal life-cycle savings would