Managed Care, Drug Benefits and Mortality: An Analysis of the Elderly

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Penn collection
Health Care Management Papers
Degree type
Discipline
Subject
healthcare
HMO
drug coverage
Community Health
Health Services Research
Medical Education
Other Public Health
Funder
Grant number
License
Copyright date
Distributor
Related resources
Author
Gowrisankaran, Gautam
Town, Robert J
Barrette, Eric
Contributor
Abstract

We evaluate the impact of the Medicare HMO program and prescription drug coverage on elderly mortality using data from 1993 to 2000. We specify a model of plan entry and benefit choice and Medicare enrollee plan choice and health outcomes. We derive an estimator that is consistent with endogenous plan selection by using the quasi-experimental variation caused by peculiarities of the Medicare reimbursement system for HMOs. We find that, relative to traditional Medicare, enrollment in an HMO without drug coverage increases mortality while enrollment in an HMO with drug coverage has no significant impact. The economic value of the reduction in mortality from drug coverage far outweighs the costs. HMOs, those without drug coverage in particular, attract healthier enrollees than average.

Advisor
Date Range for Data Collection (Start Date)
Date Range for Data Collection (End Date)
Digital Object Identifier
Series name and number
Publication date
2011-01-01
Journal title
The B.E. Journal of Economic Analysis & Policy
Volume number
Issue number
Publisher
Publisher DOI
Journal Issue
Comments
At the time of publication, author Robert J. Town was affiliated with the University of Minnesota. Currently, (s)he is a faculty member at the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania
Recommended citation
Collection