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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, senior citizens choose prescription drug insurance offered by numerous private insurers. We examine non-poor enrollees' actions in 2006 and 2007 using panel data. Our sample reduced overspending by $298 on average, with gains by 81% of them. The greatest
improvements were by those who overspent most in 2006 and by those who switched plans. Decisions to switch depended on individuals' overspending in 2006 and on individual-specific
effects of changes in their current plans. The oldest consumers and those initiating medications for Alzheimer's disease improved by more than average, suggesting that real-world institutions help overcome cognitive limitations.
- Co-authors: Jonathan Ketcham (ASU), Claudio Lucarelli (Cornell), and M. Christopher Roebuck (UMBC).
- Publication: American Economic Review, forthcoming (accepted September 2011).
- JEL: D01, D8, H51, I10, I11, I18.
- First version: September 2009.
- Current version: September 2011.
- Funding: None.
- Seminars: Keio University and University of Texas-Austin School of Law.
- Conferences: 2010 McCombs School of Business conference on
"Innovation in Health Care Delivery Systems;" 8th Invitational Choice Symposium, the 2010 ESSET Conference; 2010 ASHEcon Conference; and the 3rd FTC-Northwestern University Microeconomics Conference.
- Presentations: PDF.
- Media Citations: None yet.
- Noteworthy:
Maybe sometimes, old-fahioned economics is just about right.
Stephen Colbert on Medicare:
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