Subsidies in many health insurance programs depend on prices set by competing insurers -- as prices rise, so do subsidies. We study the economics of these "price-linked" subsidies compared to "fixed" subsidies set independently of market prices. We show that price-linked subsidies weaken price...

Policymakers subsidizing health insurance often face uncertainty about future market prices. We study the implications of one policy response: linking subsidies to prices, to target a given post-subsidy premium. We show that these price-linked subsidies weaken competition, raising prices for the...

The Affordable Care Act Marketplaces were introduced in 2014 as part of a reform of the U.S. individual health insurance market. While the individual market represents a small slice of the U.S. population, it has historically been the market segment with the lowest rates of take-up and greatest...

How much are low-income individuals willing to pay for health insurance, and what are the implications for insurance markets? Using administrative data from Massachusetts' subsidized insurance exchange, we exploit discontinuities in the subsidy schedule to estimate willingness to pay and costs...

There is increasing interest in expanding Medicare health insurance coverage in the U.S., but it is not clear whether the current program is the right foundation on which to build. Traditional Medicare covers a uniformset of benefits for all income groups and provides more generous access to...

Health insurers increasingly compete on their covered networks of medical providers. Using data from Massachusetts' pioneer insurance exchange, I find substantial adverse selection against plans covering the most prestigious and expensive “star” hospitals. I highlight a theoretically...

There is growing interest in market design using default rules and other "choice architecture” principles to steer consumers toward desirable outcomes. Using data from Massachusetts’ health insurance exchange, we study an “automatic retention” policy intended to prevent coverage...

There is growing interest in market design using default rules and other choice architecture principles to steer consumers toward desirable outcomes. Using data from Massachusetts' health insurance exchange, we study an "automatic retention" policy intended to prevent coverage interruptions...