This paper reports experience over five years from a single large employer in the Midwestern United States that adopted a high-deductible health plan with a health savings account (HSA) for all employees. This study represents one of the longest observation periods reported with a...

This paper reports use of health care services related to health care quality over five years among over 18,000 individuals from a single large employer in the Midwestern United States that adopted an HSA-eligible health plan for all employees. It represents one of the longest observation...

The body of research on how consumer-directed health plans (CDHPs) affect the use and costs of health care services -- while still relatively small -- is growing. In recent work, the Employee Benefit Research Institute has examined these relationships using panel data from a large employer that...

We propose new methods to model behavior and conduct welfare analysis in complex environments where some choices are unlikely to reveal preferences. We develop a mixture-of-experts model that incorporates heterogeneity in consumers' preferences and in their choice processes. We also develop a...

Neoclassical and psychological models of consumer behavior often make divergent predictions for the welfare effects of paternalistic policies, leaving wide scope for researchers' choice of a model to influence their policy conclusions. We develop a framework to reduce this model uncertainty and...

This paper seeks to understand the impact of the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexi- bility (Flex) Program on rural resident hospital choice and welfare. The Flex program created a new class of hospital, the Critical Access Hospital (CAH), which receives more generous reimbursement in return for...