The Effect of Taiwan’s National Health Insurance on Mortality of the Elderly: Revisited

Health Economics, 21, page 1257-1270

Posted: 1 Mar 2012 Last revised: 30 Aug 2013

See all articles by Simon Chang

Simon Chang

University of Western Australia - Department of Economics; IZA Institute of Labor Economics

Date Written: November 2012

Abstract

A recent paper estimates the effects of Taiwan’s National Health Insurance (NHI) on the elderly and concludes that NHI greatly increased the medical care utilization of the elderly but did not reduce their mortality. Using more recent and more accurate mortality data of the same group of elderly, this note re-estimates the NHI effect on mortality and finds that the mortality hazard of the previously uninsured elderly in the post-NHI period was on average 24% lower than it would have been in the absence of NHI. However, the NHI effect on the mortality hazard is only evident in the first 6 years following the enactment of NHI, suggesting that it may be difficult to undo the damage caused by lacking insurance in early life.

Keywords: universal health insurance, mortality, elderly, Taiwan

JEL Classification: I18

Suggested Citation

Chang, Kang-Hung, The Effect of Taiwan’s National Health Insurance on Mortality of the Elderly: Revisited (November 2012). Health Economics, 21, page 1257-1270, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2013983

Kang-Hung Chang (Contact Author)

University of Western Australia - Department of Economics ( email )

35 Stirling Highway
Crawley, Western Australia 6009
Australia
+61-8-64882893 (Phone)

IZA Institute of Labor Economics ( email )

P.O. Box 7240
Bonn, D-53072
Germany

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