Dataset Information

Moral hazard matters: measuring relative rates of underinsurance using threshold measures.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To illustrate the impact of moral hazard for estimating relative rates of underinsurance and to present an adjustment method to correct for this source of bias.

Data sources/study setting

Secondary data from the 2005 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) are used in this study. We restrict attention to households that report having employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) for all members during the entire 2005 calendar year.

Study design

Individuals or households are often classified as underinsured if out-of-pocket spending on medical care relative to income exceeds some threshold. In this paper, we show that, without adjustment, this common threshold measure of underinsurance will underestimate the number with low levels of insurance coverage due to moral hazard. We propose an adjustment method and apply it to the specific case of estimating the difference in rates of underinsurance among small- versus large-firm workers with full-year ESI.

Data collection/extraction

Data were abstracted from the MEPS website. All analyses were performed in Stata 9.2.

Principal findings

Applying the adjustment, we find that the underinsurance rate of small-firm households increases by approximately 20 percent with the adjustment for moral hazard and the difference in underinsurance rates between large-firm and small-firm households widens substantially.

Conclusions

Adjusting for moral hazard makes a sizeable difference in the estimated prevalence of underinsurance using a threshold measure.

SUBMITTER: Abraham JM

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2875761 | biostudies-literature | 2010 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

Moral hazard matters: measuring relative rates of underinsurance using threshold measures.

Abraham Jean Marie JM Deleire Thomas T Royalty Anne Beeson AB

Health services research 20100310 3

<h4>Objective</h4>To illustrate the impact of moral hazard for estimating relative rates of underinsurance and to present an adjustment method to correct for this source of bias.<h4>Data sources/study setting</h4>Secondary data from the 2005 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) are used in this study. We restrict attention to households that report having employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) for all members during the entire 2005 calendar year.<h4>Study design</h4>Individuals or households are ...[more]

PMID: 20337736

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Project description:This investigation intends to explore how adolescents report empathy in online contexts and moral disengagement in cyberbullying incidents, and how these two constructs are related. To accomplish this goal, three studies were conducted considering the need to develop new instruments to uncover this new approach of measuring empathy and moral disengagement. In the first study, we adapted the Portuguese version of the Empathy Quotient-short form to online contexts, which resulted in the Empathy Quotient in Virtual Contexts (EQVC). We also developed the Process Moral Disengagement in Cyberbullying Inventory (PMDCI), in order to assess moral disengagement in these specific situations. In the second study we conducted exploratory factor analyses (N = 234) of these instruments. Finally, in the third study, we conducted confirmatory factor analyses (N = 345) of both instruments. These results showed how adolescents reported empathy in online contexts and moral disengagement in cyberbullying incidents. Specifically, empathy revealed a bi-dimensional structure including difficulty and self-efficacy in empathizing (Cronbach's α = 0.44, 0.83, respectively), whereas process moral disengagement revealed four unidimensional questionnaires including locus of behavior, agency, outcome, and recipient (Cronbach's α = 0.76, 0.65, 0.77, 0.69, respectively). Furthermore, a correlational analysis was also performed of both constructs, and we also considered the variable sex. Results showed that difficulty in empathizing was negatively associated with sex (with girls revealing more difficulty than boys) and all moral disengagement mechanisms except for behavior. Moral disengagement was positively correlated with sex, suggesting boys morally disengaged more from cyberbullying. The instruments provided new insights on how empathy and moral disengagement can be specific to online contexts and cyberbullying situations, and how they can be used in educational programs to promote empathy and gain insight on moral disengagement within this phenomenon.

Dataset Information

Moral hazard matters: measuring relative rates of underinsurance using threshold measures.

Objective

Data sources/study setting

Study design

Data collection/extraction

Principal findings

Conclusions

Publications

Moral hazard matters: measuring relative rates of underinsurance using threshold measures.

Similar Datasets

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