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KOCH, S. & ALABA, O. (2010) On health insurance and household decisions: A treatment effect analysis. Social Science & Medicine, 70, 175-182.

In developing countries, where health insurance is not a commonly purchased financial instrument,recent debates have revolved around extending health insurance coverage to a wider range of the population, primarily via compulsory insurance schemes. However, these debates rarely consider the competing demands placed on the family budget, which will influence the acceptability of the program by the populace. In this paper, we draw on data from the 2000 income and expenditure survey to examine treatment effects associated with household insurance status, providing a detailed examination of expenditure substitution patterns within South Africa.