Dictionary
The Dictionary provides concise definitions of health economics terms, arranged alphabetically for quick reference. Use it to understand unfamiliar terminology or confirm the meaning of a specific term.
A
- Adverse Selection
- A market condition in which individuals with private knowledge of their own higher risk are more likely to buy insurance, driving up premiums for everyone.
- Adverse Selection Model
- A formal economic model showing how information asymmetry between insurers and policyholders can lead to partial insurance coverage or market failure.
D
- Death Spiral
- A destabilising dynamic in which rising premiums, driven by adverse selection, push healthier enrollees to exit, worsening the cycle further.
I
- Individual Mandate
- A legal requirement that individuals maintain a minimum level of insurance coverage or face a financial penalty, to prevent adverse selection.
- Information Economics
- The branch of economic theory examining how the distribution of information among market participants affects outcomes, including adverse selection and moral hazard.