Estimating Demand for Private Health Insurance: Lessons from Europe and the USA

by

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CHAPTER # 1: INTRODUCTION1

Topic Selection1

Background of the Study1

Health care reform in UAE3

Problem statement3

Purpose of the Study5

Rationale of the Study5

Research question6

Conceptual framework6

CHAPTER # 2: LITERATURE REVIEW9

Health Authority of Abu dhabi (HAAD)9

Health Insurance10

CHAPTER # 3: METHODOLOGY16

Mixed Research16

Classification of research methods17

Multi-method studies17

Mixed method studies17

Steps in mixed methodology17

Strength and weakness of the mixed research18

Strengths18

Weaknesses19

Instrument for data collection19

Data analysis19

Reliability/Dependability20

Validity21

Ethical Considerations22

Time Scale23

REFERENCES26

CHAPTER # 1: INTRODUCTION

Topic Selection

The research topic which is selected for this study is “Estimating Demand for Private Health Insurance: Lessons from Europe and the USA”. For the specified topic I have select the comparision of two selected locations which are Europe and USA. The reason behind selecting USA is that the recent reforms in health care in UAE was following the american model so it makes more sense to learn lesson from that region. This dissertation fosus on the demand for private health insurance in USA and Europe as well as provide an overview of private health insurance demand in UAE.

Background of the Study

Increasing costs and demand for medical services describe the current climate of Europe and the USA health care system. More importantly, the increases in health care costs have been outpacing growth in government revenues. Recently the Europe and USA government has made several proposals targeted at how health services are provided and financed. Examples include service deductibles, insurance co-payments, the delisting of health services and a greater role for private insurers and private health care providers (Colombo and Tapay 2004 89). The goal of the proposals is to increase the inflow of non-government revenues for health care services in order to alleviate financial pressures on the public health care system resulting from increasing health usage and demand.

Unlike the USA health care system, which disallows private health insurance for services covered by Medicare and heavily restricts the ability of private firms to provide medical services covered by Medicare, the Europe system has both public and private provision of health services and health insurance (Ellis 2005 84). This thesis investigate whether a parallel public/private health care system, modelled after the European system of care, would ensure the financial sustainability of comprehensive publicly insured and provided health care in Europe and USA. To that end, this thesis focuses on estimating the level of demand for Private Health Insurance (PHI) in the presence of parallel private/public health care systems based on the health market in Europe and USA (Palangkaraya 2005 272). The discussion contained herein excludes ancillary health services and insurance and primarily focuses on health costs associated with hospitals and doctors' offices.

A recent government policy allows foreign investors and foreign health personnel to participate in the delivery of health care in the country. This policy aims not only to shift the financial burden from government to private shoulders, but also to give more choice and better quality of care to the population. The other alternative is to force the insured to pay the full cost of care delivered by public ...