In spite of government dominance in financing health care in many countries, the private health care sector remains important. This is true even though most public provision is heavily subsidized, and in many cases free, at source. Britain's National Health Service fails to drive out the private sector because it suffers from certain inflexibilities. Here, we show that longer waiting lists for NHS treatment are associated with greater purchases of private health insurance.
Authors
Tim Besley
Research Associate London School of Economics
Timothy is a Research Associate at the IFS and a Professor of Economics and Political Science at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Ian Preston
Research Fellow University College London
Ian is a Research Fellow of the IFS and a Professor of Economics at UCL. He joined UCL in 1991 and has been attached to the IFS since 1990.
John Hall
Journal article details
- Publisher
- Elsevier
- JEL
- H4, I1
- Issue
- May 1999
Suggested citation
T, Besley and J, Hall and I, Preston. (1999). 'The demand for private health insurance: do waiting lists matter?' (1999)
More from IFS
Understand this issue
Spring Budget 2024: What you need to know
podcast
IFS reaction to the Chancellor's Spring Budget.
7 March 2024
Should we worry about government debt?
podcast
David Miles joins us to discuss high government debt and its impact on the economy.
11 April 2024
The way Chancellors respond to economic news adds to our debt - here's why
explainer
Chancellors don’t respond symmetrically to good and bad economic news. The result is higher debt.
1 March 2024
Policy analysis
Recent trends in and the outlook for health-related benefits
report
Recipients of and spending on health-related benefits have risen rapidly since the start of the pandemic, posing a serious challenge for policymakers.
19 April 2024
4.2 million working-age people now claiming health-related benefits, could rise by 30% by the end of the decade
press release
Our new report sheds more light on forecasts for a substantial increase in the number of people claiming health-related benefits in coming years.
19 April 2024
Progression of nurses within the NHS
report
This report examines the career progression of NHS nurses, how this compares with that of other NHS staff groups and how this has changed over time.
12 April 2024
Academic research
The consequences of miscarriage on parental investments
working paper
We exploit the random nature of single, early miscarriages to examine the impact of pregnancy loss on parental investment and family outcomes.
22 March 2024
The menopause "penalty"
working paper
We estimate the effect of menopause diagnosis on employment and earnings, reliance on social safety net programs, and demand for medical care.
18 March 2024
6th World Bank/IFS/ODI Public Finance Conference | Driving Progress: Public Finance and Structural Transformation
conference
26 September 2024
We invite researchers from both academic and policy institutions to submit a paper or an extended abstract of two or more pages by April.