An econometric estimation of the demand for private health insurance

The demand for private health insurance in the UK has risen rapidly in the last decade. The paper discusses the nature of the demand for private health insurance in a health care market dominated by a public supplier, in which the consumer may neither opt out of his contribution to the National Health Service nor lose his entitlement to a free-at-any-point-of-delivery publically provided medical care. The demand for private health cover is estimated using data from the 1983 General Household Survey. The results indicate that income, the health and the medical services utilisation of adult members of households are significant determinants of the probability of purchase of health insurance cover. The results also suggest that we lack information on the nature of decision to take out and give up health insurance cover. The paper outlines research currently underway to collect and analyse data about health insurance purchase from a national representative sample of households.