全民健保對家戶預防性儲蓄之排擠效果：Difference-in-Differences模型分析

Abstract Illness and indigence are closely related. For the household without health insurance, a catastrophic illness might induce financial distress and result in poverty. The implementation of National Health Insurance (NHI) is an attempt to diminish the close link between illness and indigence. By reducing the risks of uncertain medical care expenditure, the NHI might lead to lower household precautionary saving. The purpose of this study is to estimate the crowd-out effect which the implementation of NHI has on precautionary savings of the household. This study uses the difference-in-differences model to estimate the treatment effects of NHI, which implemented in 1995, on household savings over the period from 1985 to 2005. The empirical results depict that health insurance significantly dampens household savings. The crowd-out effects became larger as the time progresses. Furthermore, the households with older head or lower incomes become less prudent as they have presented a larger reduction in savings.