This came out in January but I don’t
remember seeing it circulated.
Social Health Insurance Vs. Tax-Financed Health Systems - Evidence from
the OECD"
World
Bank Policy Research Working Paper No. 4821
ADAM WAGSTAFF, World Bank - Development Research Group
This
paper exploits the transitions between tax-financed health care and social
health insurance in the OECD countries over the period 1960-2006 to assess the
effects of adopting social health insurance over tax finance on per capita
health spending, amenable mortality, and labor market outcomes. The paper uses
regression-based generalizations of difference-in-differences and instrumental
variables to address the possible endogeneity of a country's health system. It
finds that adopting social health insurance in preference to tax financing
increases per capita health spending by 3-4 percent, reduces the formal sector
share of employment by 8-10 percent, and reduces total employment by as much as
6 percent. For the most part, social health insurance adoption has no
significant impact on amenable mortality, but for one cause - breast cancer
among women - social health insurance systems perform significantly worse, with
5-6 percent more potential years of life lost.
http://ideas.repec.org/p/wbk/wbrwps/4821.html