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SINKING, SWIMMING, OR LEARNING TO SWIM IN MEDICARE PART D
(Click above to download a pdf copy of the paper)
- Abstract: Under Medicare Part D, people choose prescription drug insurance from many alternatives
offered by private insurers. We examine enrollees' actions in 2006 and 2007 using panel data. The
non-poor population substantially reduced overspending from 2006 to 2007, with the greatest
improvements by those who switched plans and who overspent the most in 2006. The oldest
consumers and those with Alzheimer's improved as much as average or better, suggesting that
real-world mechanisms help overcome cognitive limitations. The poor population also improved
and increasingly utilized their continuous open enrollment to reduce their costs. Market evolution and consumer learning likely explain these gains.
- Co-authors: Jonathan Ketcham (ASU), Claudio Lucarelli (Cornell), and M. Christopher Roebuck (UMBC & CVS).
- Publication: Mimeo.
- JEL: D01, D8, H51, I10, I11, I18.
- First version: September 2009.
- Current version: October 2009.
- Funding: None.
- Seminars: Keio University.
- Conferences: None yet .
- Presentations: PDF.
- Media Citations: None yet.
- Noteworthy:
Maybe sometimes, old-fahioned economics is just about right.
Stephen Colbert on Medicare:
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