ABSTRACT
This paper examines the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on voluntary demand for Non-COVID-19 healthcare. We use 2014-2020 weekly county-level data from Taiwan National Health Insurance alongside a difference-in-differences design. Our results indicate that even if there are no government restrictions on human mobility, people spontaneously reduce their demand for healthcare due to fears of infection or improved health status. On average, the number of outpatient visits (inpatient admissions) decreased by 18% (9%) after COVID-19 outbreak. Furthermore, the demand response of healthcare for infectious diseases (e.g. flu) is much greater and more persistent than for other diseases, suggesting that the substantial decline in healthcare use is induced by positive public-health externality of prevention measures for COVID-19.
Subject(s)
COVID-19 , Communicable DiseasesABSTRACT
This paper examines the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on voluntary demand for Non-COVID-19 healthcare. We use 2014–2020 weekly county level data from Taiwan National Health Insurance alongside a difference in differences design. Our results indicate that even if there are no government restrictions on human mobility, people spontaneously reduce their demand for healthcare due to fears of infection or improved health status. On average, the number of outpatient visits (inpatient admissions) decreased by 18% (9%) after COVID19 outbreak. Furthermore, the demand response of healthcare for infectious diseases (e.g. flu) is much greater and more persistent than for other diseases, suggesting that the substantial decline in healthcare use is induced by positive public health externality of prevention measures for COVID-19.