This paper explores potential realization of gains by hospitals that are managed on a day-to-day basis by external organizations under formal contracts. It draws from the incentives literature, which postulates that managers of firms where ownership is separated from control will employ an input...

Previous research found that the initiation of Hospital Compare (HC) quality reporting had little impact on patient outcomes. However little is known about its impact on hospital prices, which may be significant since insurers are positioned to respond to quality information when engaging...

Nonmedical exemptions are widely shown to be associated with outbreaks of vaccine-preventable disease. In response to a recent measles outbreak in 2015, California acted to increase immunization coverage by removing all nonmedical exemptions effective in 2016. Employing a unique dataset of...

We examine the impacts of physician-hospital integration on care fragmentation and other measures of care-coordination using a dynamic model of movers and stayers in commercially insured plans. Although recent growth in the share of practicing physicians belonging to these vertical organizations...

Insurance for prescription drugs is characterized by two types of cost-sharing: flat copayments and variable coinsurance. We develop a theoretical model to show that refill purchases of preventive drugs (compliance) are lower under coinsurance due to the consumer's exposure to variation in drug...

Pricing methodologies in Medicare vary from one component of the system to another, often leading to conflicting incentives. The dialysis program represents a particularly interesting case, whereby outpatient payments are much more rigid than payments for related hospital care. Failure to...

The paper examines price discounting by health maintenance organizations and preferred provider organizations in markets for hospital services. Our empirical analysis focuses on transaction prices for angioplasty, which is a relatively common procedure, with well defined 'product'...

It is generally assumed that managed care has been successful at capturing discounts from medical providers, but the implications have been a matter of debate. Critics argue that managed care organizations attain savings by reducing intensity of services, while others have argued that savings...

In this paper we investigate whether the presence of private insurance leads to improved health status. Using the Health and Retirement study we focus on adults in late middle age who are nearing entry into Medicare. Estimation addresses endogeneity of the insurance participation decision in...

Immunization can cause moral hazard by reducing the cost of risky behaviors. In this study, we examine the effect of HPV vaccination for cervical cancer on participation in the Pap test, which is a diagnostic screening test to detect potentially precancerous and cancerous process. It is strongly...