Performativity and Conventionalist Theory. The Case of the Health Insurance

Making the patient pay (coinsurance, copayment, deductible) is a strategy illustrative of the political power of mainstream economics. The economic theory of “moral hazard” assumes that cost sharing and private health insurance can reduce health spending without damage on health status. This “lesson” has been enormously influential on policy makers and justifies the marketization of health care. This paper shows that the influence of this theoretical discourse is close to the power of dominant interest despite the empirical proof is as flawed as the theoretical approach is deficient.