State Health Insurance Regulations and the Price of High-Deductible Policies

Abstract

This study examines the impact of state health insurance regulations on the price of high-deductible family and individual polices in the nongroup market. We use a unique and rich data set on actual insurance policies sold through a large Internet health insurance distributor to examine the impact of various regulations on policy prices, controlling for policy characteristics, demographic characteristics of the purchasers, and state-level demographics. We also use data from a single major insurance firm that provided offer prices for a family policy from a set of randomly selected zip codes. Both datasets suggest a strong statistical relationship between regulation and insurance prices.

Recommended Citation

Amanda E. Kowalski, William J. Congdon, and Mark H. Showalter (2008) "State Health Insurance Regulations and the Price of High-Deductible Policies," Forum for Health Economics & Policy: Vol. 11: Iss. 2 (Health Care Reform), Article 8.
http://www.bepress.com/fhep/11/2/8