Determinants of the Use and Abuse of medical licenses in Chile

Edmundo Beteta and Manuel Willington, both Chileans, shared second place in the CISS´s Inter-American Award for Research on Social Security 2010. His work, entitled "Determinantes del Uso y Abuso de Licencias Médicas en Chile" examines the possible determinants at the individual level of use of insurance against loss of income for common illnesses-or non-professional system of "medical leave" as is commonly known in Chile. They worked with an ad-hoc survey carried contributors to beneficiaries of the system in the city of Santiago. The results are consistent with international evidence and economic theory, which can identify variables that affect the use of insurance that would be indicative of illegal use of it, others that are indicative of problems with insurance coverage and others that directly strip Insurance inefficient design to control moral hazard problems. The research findings are translated into proposals to reform the insurance while reconciling efficiency and equity considerations.