Income, health, and mortality in West-Germany, Great Britain, and the USA

The paper examines the effect of income on mortality with respect to differ ent health statuses and institutional characteristics of the health care sy stem in the USA, Great Britain and West Germany. it is hypothesized that th e nature of the theoretical contribution of income in explaining mortality risks changes on whether good or poor health is considered. Taking into acc ount that the health care systems of the countries in question vary by thei r degree of household out-of-pocket expenditure, we expect an association b etween income and mortality that differs by country. The analysis is based on the German Socio-economic Panel (GSOEP), the British Household Panel Stu dy (BHPS), and the Panel Study of Income Dynamics (PSID). The effect of inc ome on mortality is Found to be weakest when medical services are sought in the presence of poor health within the framework of a national health insu rance that renders free primary health care (Great Britain, Germany). The e ffect is strongest when the provision of primary health care depends strong ly on private expenditures (USA).