Prior Conditions, Age and the Impact of Insurance

Health insurance coverage reduces the price perceived by the insured and consequently increases the quantity of health care demanded. We consider vision care insurance because this provides a unique opportunity to observe the differential response to insurance coverage by those with and without a prior medical condition. The results show that there is a response by both groups and the response is larger for those with a prior condition. We also find that vision care insurance is poorly matched in time to the patterns of vision care needs