• Media type: E-Book; Report
  • Title: Moral Hazard in Drug Purchases
  • Contributor: Verho, Jouko [Author]; Harju, Jarkko [Author]
  • imprint: Munich: Center for Economic Studies and ifo Institute (CESifo), 2023
  • Language: English
  • Keywords: moral hazard ; D12 ; I10 ; health insurance ; H51 ; prescription drugs
  • Origination:
  • Footnote: Diese Datenquelle enthält auch Bestandsnachweise, die nicht zu einem Volltext führen.
  • Description: We study the moral hazard effects of the drug copayment threshold in Finland using detailed prescription drug purchase data. The analysis reveals that the average drug costs increase discontinuously by 17% at the threshold above which out-of-pocket drug costs decrease substantially. Our results suggest an average price elasticity of -0.17, which indicates evident moral hazard costs. Approximately 80% of the overall effect is due to individuals buying drugs in larger quantities rather than purchasing higher-priced drugs. The heterogeneity analysis suggests that the responses are largest for drug categories taken on an as-needed rather than a regular basis.
  • Access State: Open Access