This paper presents a theoretical framework to predict the effects that may arise from mergers in the rapidly-growing Medicare HMO market. We argue that mergers of large Medicare HMOs should be targeted for antitrust investigation because there are significant barriers into this market. The...

The Medicare Modernization Act of 2003 created several new types of private insurance plans within Medicare, starting in 2006. Some of these plan types previously did not exist in the commercial market and there was great uncertainty about their prospects. In this paper, we show that statistical...

This paper estimates a model of commercial HMO premiums based on Nash's axiomatic approach to bargaining between HMOs and employers. The bargaining models incorporate variables that measure the 'power' of the parties to affect the division of potential gains from a contract. It is found that an...