Centro de Documentación de Fundación MAPFRE - The Role of agents and brokers in the market for Health lnsurance

Notes: Sumario: Health insurance markets in the United States are characterized by imperfect information, complex products, and substantial search frictions. Insurance agents and brokers play a significant role in helping employers navigate these problems. However, little is known about the relations between the structure of the agent/broker market and access and affordability of insurance. This article aims to fill this gap by investigating the influence of agents/brokers on health insurance offering decisions of small firms, which are particularly vulnerable to problems of financing health insurance. Using a unique membership database from the National Association of Health Underwriters together with a nationally representative survey of employers, we find that small firms in more competitive agent/broker markets are more likely to offer health insurance and at lower premiums. Moreover, premiums are less dispersed in more competitive agent/broker markets.Related records: En: The Journal of risk and insurance. - Nueva York : The American Risk and Insurance Association, 1964- = ISSN 0022-4367. - 01/03/2018 Volumen 85 Número 1 - marzo 2018 , p. 7-34Materia / lugar / evento: Mercado de seguros Seguro de salud Seguro de vida Seguro de asistencia sanitaria Intermediarios Agentes de seguros Corredores de seguros Distribución de seguros Estados Unidos Otros autores: Feldman, Roger
Graven, Peter
Other categories: 344.1

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