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Sources of Advantageous Selection: Evidence from the Medigap Insurance Market

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Author Info
Hanming Fang
Michael P. Keane
Dan Silverman

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Abstract

We provide evidence of advantageous selection in the Medigap insurance market and analyze its sources. Conditional on controls for Medigap prices, those with Medigap spend, on average, $4,000 less on medical care than those without. But if we condition on health, those with Medigap spend $2,000 more. The sources of this advantageous selection include income, education, longevity expectations, and financial planning horizons, as well as cognitive ability. Conditional on all these factors, those with higher expected medical expenditures are more likely to purchase Medigap. Risk preferences do not appear as a source of advantageous selection; cognitive ability is particularly important. (c) 2008 by The University of Chicago. All rights reserved..

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File URL: http://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/pdf/10.1086/587623
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Publisher Info
Article provided by University of Chicago Press in its journal Journal of Political Economy.

Volume (Year): 116 (2008)
Issue (Month): 2 (04)
Pages: 303-350
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Handle: RePEc:ucp:jpolec:v:116:y:2008:i:2:p:303-350

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Cited by:
(explanations, Please report citation or reference errors to , or , if you are the registered author of the cited work, log in to your RePEc Author Service profile, click on "citations" and make appropriate adjustments.)

  1. Bolhaar, Jonneke & Lindeboom, Maarten & van der Klaauw, Bas, 2008. "A Dynamic Analysis of the Demand for Health Insurance and Health Care," IZA Discussion Papers 3698, Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA). [Downloadable!]
    Other versions:
  2. Peter Arcidiacono & Esteban M. Aucejo & Hanming Fang & Kenneth I. Spenner, 2009. "Does Affirmative Action Lead to Mismatch? A New Test and Evidence," NBER Working Papers 14885, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  3. Nicole Maestas & Mathis Schroeder & Dana Goldman, 2009. "Price Variation in Markets with Homogeneous Goods: The Case of Medigap," NBER Working Papers 14679, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  7. Jean Pinquet & Guillén Montserrat, 2008. "Long-Term Care: Risk Description of a Spanish Portfolio and Economic Analysis of the Timing of Insurance Purchase," Post-Print hal-00343104_v1, HAL. [Downloadable!]
  8. Amy Finkelstein & James Poterba, 2006. "Testing for Adverse Selection with "Unused Observables"," NBER Working Papers 12112, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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  10. Florian Heiss & Daniel McFadden & Joachim Winter, 2007. "Mind the Gap! Consumer Perceptions and Choices of Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans," NBER Working Papers 13627, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  11. Florian Heiss & Daniel McFadden & Joachim Winter, 2008. "Mind the Gap! Consumer Perceptions and Choices," MEA discussion paper series 08156, Mannheim Research Institute for the Economics of Aging (MEA), University of Mannheim. [Downloadable!]
  12. Dardanoni, V & Li Donni, P, 2008. "Testing For Asymmetric Information In Insurance Markets With Unobservable Types," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 08/26, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York. [Downloadable!]
  13. Liran Einav & Amy Finkelstein & Paul Schrimpf, 2007. "The Welfare Cost of Asymmetric Information: Evidence from the U.K. Annuity Market," NBER Working Papers 13228, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
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