Patient costs, which include time off work, out-of-pocket expenses, and travel are often difficult to measure.
When the out-of-pocket price is zero, the income elasticity of demand for medical care is close to zero (9).
These changes in benefits may in turn prompt changes in utilization, as out-of-pocket expenditure falls.
Patients were told that their response represented an out-of-pocket payment for the test.
In particular for high-risk lowincome people an effective incentive to shop around could mean that their out-of-pocket premium substantially exceeds x% of their income.
It was assumed that neither of the programs involved an out-of-pocket expense.
Since out-of-pocket payments are absent or do not differ across hospitals, actual transaction prices are not relevant for patient hospital choice.
The rate of direct, out-of-pocket expenditure remained high also during the early 1990s.
