Household income modifies the association of insurance and dental visiting

BACKGROUND Dental insurance and income are positively associated with regular dental visiting. Higher income earners face fewer financial barriers to dental care, while dental insurance provides partial reimbursement. The aim was to explore whether household income has an effect on the relationship between insurance and visiting. METHODS A random sample of adults aged 30–61 years living in Australia was drawn from the Electoral Roll. Data were collected by mailed survey in 2009–10, including age, sex, dental insurance status and household income. RESULTS Responses were collected from n = 1,096 persons (response rate = 39.1%). Dental insurance was positively associated with regular visiting (adjusted prevalence ratio (PR) = 1.18; 95% CI: 1.01-1.36). Individuals in the lowest income tertile had a lower prevalence of regular visiting than those in the highest income group (PR = 0.78; 95% CI: 0.65-0.93). Visiting for a check-up was less prevalent among lower income earners (PR = 0.65; 95% CI: 0.50-0.83). Significant interaction terms indicated that the associations between insurance and visiting varied across income tertiles showing that income modified the effect. CONCLUSIONS Household income modified the relationships between insurance and regular visiting and visiting for a check-up, with dental insurance having a greater impact on visiting among lower income groups.Olga Anikeeva, David S Brennan and Dana N Teusne

Australian private health insurance productivity growth: Is there scope to limit premium increases?

The regulation of Australian private health insurance premiums is not conducive to restricting premium increases because the criteria used by the Commonwealth Government to help set premiums do not consider efficient service delivery. This article examines levels of efficiency and productivity growth in Australian health funds. Efficiency frontiers are constructed using data envelopment analysis (DEA) methods, and Malmquist productivity indexes are constructed for the health funds. Our results demonstrate a wide disparity in productivity growth between large funds and smaller funds and funds open to the public and funds that have restricted public access. Consequently, there is scope for health funds to potentially reduce premium increases, on average, by about 0.4 per cent per year. © 2011 The Economic Society of Australi