Unbiased Analysis of Today's Healthcare Issues
The effect of health care industry consolidation on prices is a question argued about by many including researchers, economists, anti-trust, lawyers, regulators and more. There is evidence that health plan consolidation increases premiums, and hospital consolidation increases price. For instance, Dafny et al. 2015 writes: The harsh reality is that it’s difficult to find well-documented…
Typically, most economists believe that increased competition decreases prices. However, is that the case for competition among health insurers? On the one hand, competition among health insurers could decrease prices if consumers choose plans based on premiums. Competition may increase insurer’s incentive to negotiate with providers and may force insurers to make lower margins or lower…
Why do Medicare patients choose to stay in their current Part D prescription drug plan or switch to another? Are they rational actors maximizing their their financial benefit or do other factors play a role. A paper by Kate Ho and co-authors (NBER WP version) presented at the 2016 ASSA meetings find the switch rates…