Private Health Insurance and Inpatient Service Utilisation among Adults and Elderly People under Taiwan's National Insurance Programme

Previous studies have shown that demand for the quantity of medical services has increased since the implementation of the National Health Insurance (NHI) programme. This paper extends the investigation to the relationship between private health insurance and inpatient service utilisation under the NHI programme in Taiwan. By using nationwide population-based claim data, we utilise a two-part model to investigate whether individuals with private health insurance have higher probabilities of utilising inpatient services. We further examine the effect of those individuals with private health insurance on the inpatient length of stay for those utilising inpatient services. The results indicate that individuals with private health insurance are more likely to use inpatient services and spend more days in a hospital compared to those without private health insurance. We propose that this finding provides a good reference for government and insurance companies when formulating relevant health insurance policies. The Geneva Papers (2012) 37, 655-677. doi:10.1057/gpp.2012.36