Choice Inconsistencies among the Elderly: Evidence from Plan Choice in the Medicare Part D Program
We evaluate the choices of elders across their insurance options under the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug plan, using a unique dataset of prescription drug claims matched to information on the characteristics of choice sets. We document that elders place much more weight on plan premiums than on...
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| Other Authors: | |
| Format: | Article |
| Language: | en_US |
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American Economic Association
2012
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| Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/73127 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9877-3065 |
| _version_ | 1826208530118475776 |
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| author | Abaluck, Jason Todd Gruber, Jonathan |
| author2 | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Economics |
| author_facet | Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Economics Abaluck, Jason Todd Gruber, Jonathan |
| author_sort | Abaluck, Jason Todd |
| collection | MIT |
| description | We evaluate the choices of elders across their insurance options under the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug plan, using a unique dataset of prescription drug claims matched to information on the characteristics of choice sets. We document that elders place much more weight on plan premiums than on expected out-of-pocket costs; value plan financial characteristics beyond any impacts on their own financial expenses or risk; and place almost no value on variance- reducing aspects of plans. Partial equilibrium welfare analysis implies that welfare would have been 27 percent higher if patients had all chosen rationally. (JEL D12, I11, J14) |
| first_indexed | 2024-09-23T14:07:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | mit-1721.1/73127 |
| institution | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
| language | en_US |
| last_indexed | 2024-09-23T14:07:05Z |
| publishDate | 2012 |
| publisher | American Economic Association |
| record_format | dspace |
| spelling | mit-1721.1/731272022-09-28T18:35:09Z Choice Inconsistencies among the Elderly: Evidence from Plan Choice in the Medicare Part D Program Abaluck, Jason Todd Gruber, Jonathan Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Department of Economics Abaluck, Jason Todd Gruber, Jonathan We evaluate the choices of elders across their insurance options under the Medicare Part D Prescription Drug plan, using a unique dataset of prescription drug claims matched to information on the characteristics of choice sets. We document that elders place much more weight on plan premiums than on expected out-of-pocket costs; value plan financial characteristics beyond any impacts on their own financial expenses or risk; and place almost no value on variance- reducing aspects of plans. Partial equilibrium welfare analysis implies that welfare would have been 27 percent higher if patients had all chosen rationally. (JEL D12, I11, J14) National Institute on Aging (Grant R01 AG031270) National Institute on Aging (Grant T32 AG000186-21) 2012-09-24T18:10:58Z 2012-09-24T18:10:58Z 2011-06 Article http://purl.org/eprint/type/JournalArticle 0002-8282 1944-7981 http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/73127 Abaluck, Jason, and Jonathan Gruber. “Choice Inconsistencies Among the Elderly: Evidence from Plan Choice in the Medicare Part D Program.” American Economic Review 101.4 (2011): 1180–1210. © 2011 AEA https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9877-3065 en_US http://dx.doi.org/10.1257/aer.101.4.1180 American Economic Review Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use. application/pdf American Economic Association American Economic Association |
| spellingShingle | Abaluck, Jason Todd Gruber, Jonathan Choice Inconsistencies among the Elderly: Evidence from Plan Choice in the Medicare Part D Program |
| title | Choice Inconsistencies among the Elderly: Evidence from Plan Choice in the Medicare Part D Program |
| title_full | Choice Inconsistencies among the Elderly: Evidence from Plan Choice in the Medicare Part D Program |
| title_fullStr | Choice Inconsistencies among the Elderly: Evidence from Plan Choice in the Medicare Part D Program |
| title_full_unstemmed | Choice Inconsistencies among the Elderly: Evidence from Plan Choice in the Medicare Part D Program |
| title_short | Choice Inconsistencies among the Elderly: Evidence from Plan Choice in the Medicare Part D Program |
| title_sort | choice inconsistencies among the elderly evidence from plan choice in the medicare part d program |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/1721.1/73127 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9877-3065 |
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