Giving more detailed information about health insurance encourages consumers to choose compromise options
IntroductionTo investigate how the provision of additional information about the health events and procedures covered by a healthcare plan affect the level of coverage chosen by young adults taking their first full time job.MethodsUniversity students were recruited for a study at two behavioral labo...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Frontiers Media S.A.
2023-11-01
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| Series: | Frontiers in Psychology |
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| Online Access: | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1257031/full |
| _version_ | 1797626622025662464 |
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| author | Stephen E. Chick Scott A. Hawkins David Soberman |
| author_facet | Stephen E. Chick Scott A. Hawkins David Soberman |
| author_sort | Stephen E. Chick |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | IntroductionTo investigate how the provision of additional information about the health events and procedures covered by a healthcare plan affect the level of coverage chosen by young adults taking their first full time job.MethodsUniversity students were recruited for a study at two behavioral laboratories (one located at the University of Toronto and the other located at INSEAD-Sorbonne University in Paris) in which they imagine they are making choices about the healthcare coverage associated with the taking a new job in Chicago, Illinois. Every participant made choices in four categories: Physician Care, Clinical Care, Hospital Care, and Dental Care. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: Low Detail or High Detail coverage information and they chose between three levels of coverage: Basic, Enhanced, and Superior. The study took place in March 2017 with 120 students in Toronto and 121 students in Paris.ResultsThe provision of more detailed information about the health events and procedures covered by a healthcare plan leads to a compromise effect in which participants shift their choices significantly towards Enhanced (moderate coverage) from Basic (low coverage) and Superior (high coverage). The compromise effect was observed at both locations; however, Paris participants choose significantly higher levels of coverage than Toronto participants.DiscussionProviding more detail to employees about the health events and procedures covered by a healthcare plan will increase the fraction of employees who choose the intermediate level of coverage. It is beyond the scope of this study to conclude whether this is good or bad; however, in a context where employees gravitate to either insufficient or excessive coverage, providing additional detail may reduce these tendencies. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-11T10:13:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-666a89c1ca37476f86a4ec8f520b24e0 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1664-1078 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-11T10:13:47Z |
| publishDate | 2023-11-01 |
| publisher | Frontiers Media S.A. |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Frontiers in Psychology |
| spelling | doaj.art-666a89c1ca37476f86a4ec8f520b24e02023-11-16T13:02:07ZengFrontiers Media S.A.Frontiers in Psychology1664-10782023-11-011410.3389/fpsyg.2023.12570311257031Giving more detailed information about health insurance encourages consumers to choose compromise optionsStephen E. Chick0Scott A. Hawkins1David Soberman2INSEAD, Fontainebleau, FranceRotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, CanadaRotman School of Management, University of Toronto, Toronto, ON, CanadaIntroductionTo investigate how the provision of additional information about the health events and procedures covered by a healthcare plan affect the level of coverage chosen by young adults taking their first full time job.MethodsUniversity students were recruited for a study at two behavioral laboratories (one located at the University of Toronto and the other located at INSEAD-Sorbonne University in Paris) in which they imagine they are making choices about the healthcare coverage associated with the taking a new job in Chicago, Illinois. Every participant made choices in four categories: Physician Care, Clinical Care, Hospital Care, and Dental Care. Participants were randomly assigned to one of two conditions: Low Detail or High Detail coverage information and they chose between three levels of coverage: Basic, Enhanced, and Superior. The study took place in March 2017 with 120 students in Toronto and 121 students in Paris.ResultsThe provision of more detailed information about the health events and procedures covered by a healthcare plan leads to a compromise effect in which participants shift their choices significantly towards Enhanced (moderate coverage) from Basic (low coverage) and Superior (high coverage). The compromise effect was observed at both locations; however, Paris participants choose significantly higher levels of coverage than Toronto participants.DiscussionProviding more detail to employees about the health events and procedures covered by a healthcare plan will increase the fraction of employees who choose the intermediate level of coverage. It is beyond the scope of this study to conclude whether this is good or bad; however, in a context where employees gravitate to either insufficient or excessive coverage, providing additional detail may reduce these tendencies.https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1257031/fullhealthcareinsurancecompromise effectunpackingsupport theoryuncertainty |
| spellingShingle | Stephen E. Chick Scott A. Hawkins David Soberman Giving more detailed information about health insurance encourages consumers to choose compromise options Frontiers in Psychology healthcare insurance compromise effect unpacking support theory uncertainty |
| title | Giving more detailed information about health insurance encourages consumers to choose compromise options |
| title_full | Giving more detailed information about health insurance encourages consumers to choose compromise options |
| title_fullStr | Giving more detailed information about health insurance encourages consumers to choose compromise options |
| title_full_unstemmed | Giving more detailed information about health insurance encourages consumers to choose compromise options |
| title_short | Giving more detailed information about health insurance encourages consumers to choose compromise options |
| title_sort | giving more detailed information about health insurance encourages consumers to choose compromise options |
| topic | healthcare insurance compromise effect unpacking support theory uncertainty |
| url | https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1257031/full |
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