Data + code supplement for "Health Care Demand Under Simple Prices"

Principal Investigator(s):  View help for Principal Investigator(s) Elena Prager, Northwestern University

Version:  View help for Version V1

Name File Type Size Last Modified
GIC_plans_characteristics.csv text/csv 1.3 KB 10/11/2019 11:21:AM
README.pdf application/pdf 431.6 KB 10/11/2019 11:21:AM
demand_estimate_part1.do text/x-stata-syntax 44 KB 10/11/2019 11:21:AM
demand_estimate_part2.do text/x-stata-syntax 35.7 KB 10/11/2019 11:21:AM
demand_estimate_part3.do text/x-stata-syntax 11.2 KB 10/11/2019 11:21:AM
descrip_part1.R text/x-r-syntax 5.9 KB 11/07/2019 04:38:AM
descrip_part2.R text/x-r-syntax 21.7 KB 10/11/2019 11:21:AM
elast_bootstrap_part1.do text/x-stata-syntax 2.6 KB 10/11/2019 11:21:AM
elast_bootstrap_part2_and_counterfact.R text/x-r-syntax 130.6 KB 10/11/2019 11:21:AM
hospital_tiers.csv text/csv 12.9 KB 10/11/2019 11:21:AM

Project Citation: 

Prager, Elena. Data + code supplement for “Health Care Demand Under Simple Prices.” Nashville, TN: American Economic Association [publisher], 2020. Ann Arbor, MI: Inter-university Consortium for Political and Social Research [distributor], 2020-09-23. https://doi.org/10.3886/E111666V1

Project Description

Summary:  View help for Summary This paper shows that consumers respond to prices for complex health care when they can easily assess out-of-pocket prices. Health care cost containment efforts increasingly incentivize price-shopping, despite a dearth of evidence that this steers consumers toward lower-priced care for major medical services. I show that consumers shift toward lower-priced hospitals in the highly simplified price information environment of insurance plans with tiered hospital networks. Consumers observe a single predictable, well-defined price that applies to a broad range of services within each of at most three hospital tiers. Within three years, expected partial-equilibrium savings reach 8–17 percent of baseline spending.

Scope of Project

Subject Terms:  View help for Subject Terms hospitals; health insurance
JEL Classification:  View help for JEL Classification
      D83 Search • Learning • Information and Knowledge • Communication • Belief • Unawareness
      I11 Analysis of Health Care Markets
      I13 Health Insurance, Public and Private
Geographic Coverage:  View help for Geographic Coverage Massachusetts
Time Period(s):  View help for Time Period(s) 2009 – 2012
Universe:  View help for Universe Hospitals and private health insurance in Massachusetts.
Data Type(s):  View help for Data Type(s) program source code; text


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V1 [2020-09-23]

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