EMPIRICAL STUDIES
Our empirical studies evaluate health insurance in terms of an individual’s well-being and social welfare. Rather than resting on the individual’s pursuit of maximum preference satisfaction, with priority given to satisfying individual and aggregate preferences, an alternative welfare economic approach gives moral significance to human capability and human flourishing. Our approach focuses on individuals’ exposure to risk and their ability to adequately manage it, rather than their preferences regarding it. In this approach, universal health insurance is critical to protect individuals against deprivations resulting from illness or injury, and changes in material circumstances. Health insurance helps create opportunities for both good health and protective security; these interrelated freedoms are essential for human capability.
