The role of health insurance literacy in the process and outcomes of choosing a health insurance policy in the Netherlands.
Health insurance literacy
Health insurance policy
Netherlands
Journal
BMC health services research
ISSN: 1472-6963
Titre abrégé: BMC Health Serv Res
Pays: England
ID NLM: 101088677
Informations de publication
Date de publication:
18 Sep 2023
18 Sep 2023
Historique:
received:
20
02
2023
accepted:
24
08
2023
medline:
20
9
2023
pubmed:
19
9
2023
entrez:
18
9
2023
Statut:
epublish
Résumé
In several countries, citizens are expected to be critical consumers when choosing a health insurance policy. However, there are indications that citizens do not always have the sufficient skills, so called health insurance literacy (HIL), to do this. We investigated whether the level of HIL among Dutch citizens is related to the way in which they experience the process of choosing a policy, and furthermore whether it is related to their health insurance choices. We obtained information by sending questionnaires to members of the Nivel Dutch Health Care Consumer Panel in 2020. Of the 1,500 approached, 806 panel members participated (response rate 54%). Our results indicate that, compared to those with a high HIL, respondents with a low HIL more often find choosing a health insurance policy difficult, not interesting, and boring, and less often consider it important and worthwhile. Furthermore, they make less use of the opportunity to switch from one health insurer to another. However, they do still opt for a supplementary insurance policy and a voluntary deductible to the same extent as citizens with a high HIL. We conclude that the HIL level among Dutch citizens is related to the way in which they experience the process of choosing a health insurance policy and to the extent to which they switch from one insurer to another. But it is not related to their health insurance choices. Follow-up research should focus on how citizens with a low HIL can be better supported when choosing a health insurance policy.
Identifiants
pubmed: 37723544
doi: 10.1186/s12913-023-09960-0
pii: 10.1186/s12913-023-09960-0
pmc: PMC10506200
doi:
Types de publication
Journal Article
Langues
eng
Sous-ensembles de citation
IM
Pagination
1002Informations de copyright
© 2023. BioMed Central Ltd., part of Springer Nature.
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