In Pursuit of Promptness: Assessing the Link between HealthcareWaiting Time and Demand forVoluntary Health Insurance in Sweden

Abstract

The demand for voluntary health insurance (VHI) in Sweden is growing, yet there is little evidence of what drives the growth. Research in other countries with universal healthcare indicates that waiting times in the healthcare system are the main driver for the increased demand. This study addresses two main questions: (i) Does waiting time in healthcare impact demand for voluntary health insurance in Sweden? and (ii) Does waiting time in healthcare impact demand for voluntary health insurance differently, depending on the origin of the insurance? To answer these questions, a novel dataset is constructed by combining data from the Swedish national-wide survey Riks-SOM 2016 and regional waiting time data provided by the Swedish Association of Local Authorities and Regions. Probit models are used to estimate the relationship betweenwaiting time and demand for VHI. The potential endogeneity problem of simultaneity causality is mitigated by using lagged waiting time values. In line with previous research, we find a positive association of waiting time on demand for VHI. The results do however not suggest that thewaiting time impacts the demand differently depending on the origin of the insurance.