The Spillover Effect of National Health Insurance on Household Consumption Patterns in Taiwan

One of the major aims of implementing a national health insurance program in Taiwan in 1995 was to provide financial risk protection to the country's 23 million citizens. Households may differ in how they allocate the resources freed up and available to them as a result of health insurance. This study presented by Jui-fen Rachel Lu aims to evaluate the impact of social insurance on household consumption patterns.

About the Speaker

Jui-fen Rachel Lu, ScD, is a professor in the Department of Health Care Management and dean of the College of Management at Chang Gung University in Taiwan, where she teaches comparative health systems, health economics, and health care financing. Her research focuses on equity issues in Taiwan's health care system; the impact of the National Health Insurance program on the health care market and household consumption patterns; and comparative health systems in the Asia-Pacific region. She earned her BS from National Taiwan University, and her MS and ScD from Harvard University.

Lu has served as a member of various government committees dealing with health care issues in Taiwan, and is the recipient of various awards. She is the author of Health Economics, and has published papers in journals including Health Affairs, Medical Care, and Journal of Health Economics. Her detailed CV can be found online.