Medicaid is a government program that also provides health insurance to the old who have little assets and either low income or catastrophic health care expenses. We ask how the Medicaid rules map into the reality of Medicaid recipiency and what other observable characteristics are important to...

Drug overdoses involving opioid analgesics have increased dramatically since 1999, representing one of the United States' top public health crises. Opioids have legitimate medical functions, but improving access may increase abuse rates even among those not prescribed the drugs given that...

During each annual election period, from November 15 to December 31, individuals enrolled in valid Medicare prescription drug plans (PDPs) can switch to another plan. Those who are eligible for Medicare Part D but are not enrolled can also register. The number of PDPs available increased 31...

This EBRI Notes article examines the amount of savings Medicare beneficiaries are projected to need to cover program premiums, deductibles, and certain other health expenses in retirement. More specifically, for the purposes of this study, the health expenses for which savings are accumulated...

Objective: To study how changes in insurance benefit design affect medication use of older adults with mental disorders.Data sources: US Medicare claims data from 2007 to 2018.Study Design: We focus on the gradual elimination of the Medicare prescription drug coverage gap beginning in 2011, and...

In this report, we examine a potential reform to Medicare that would simplify coverage for fee-for-service beneficiaries, streamline cost-sharing obligations under a uniform deductible for Medicare Parts A, B, and D services, and create an out-of-pocket maximum to protect beneficiaries from high...

This paper empirically investigates the relationship between the health care expenditure of end-of-life patients and hospital characteristics in Taiwan where (1) hospitals of different ownership differ in their financial incentives; (2) patients are free to choose their providers; and (3) health...

Medicaid was primarily designed to protect and insure the poor against medical shocks. Yet, poorer people tend to live shorter lifespans and incur lower medical expenses before death than richer people. Taking these and other important dimensions of heterogeneity into account, and carefully...

We estimate the current impact of Medicare on medical expenditure risk and financial strain. At age 65, out-of-pocket expenditures drop by 33% at the mean and 53% among the top 5% of spenders. The fraction of the population with out-of-pocket medical expenditures above income drops by more than...