On insurance and health risks (original) (raw)

The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance - Issues and Practice

Health risk can be defined as the likelihood of a negative health consequence occurring due to a specific event, disease or condition. Its consequences can be strongly detrimental to individuals and society and managing health risks is a central concern for individuals and governments. This special issue of The Geneva Papers on Risk and Insurance on health aims at better understanding the role of insurance mechanisms in financing and managing health risks. It concentrates on four topics: the structure and performance of health insurance markets, the drivers of long-term care (LTC) insurance purchase, the phenomena of moral hazard in health insurance, and the effect of health insurance on the health of individuals. It offers nine contributions from various perspectives to better understand these issues and, in particular, the function and development of health insurance markets. These contributions tackle practical aspects and policy implications and are illustrated in the light of various health systems with application to countries such as Australia, Chile, China, South Korea, Switzerland and the U.S. Health insurance markets are organised in various ways and insurance carriers can take different forms, principally as stock insurers, mutual insurers or health maintenance organisations (HMOs). Health insurers also deal with various types of populations as they can specialise in serving individuals, groups, low-income people, older people, civil servants, etc. Naturally, the structure of their organisation and the type of population they serve strongly influence the governance and activities of health insurers. The first two papers address supply-side issues of health insurance markets by investigating the behaviour and performance of health insurers, either in relation to HMOs or in serving poor individuals.