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Sources of Advantageous Selection: Evidence from the Medigap Insurance Market

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Author Info
Fang, Hanming (Yale U)
Keane, Michael
Silverman, Dan (U of Michigan)

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Abstract

We provide strong evidence of advantageous selection in the Medigap insurance market, and analyze its sources. Using Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) data, we find that, conditional on controls for the price of Medigap, medical expenditures for senior citizens with Medigap coverage are, on average, about $4,000 less than for those without. But, if we condition on health, expenditures for seniors on Medigap are about $2,000 more. These two findings can only be reconciled if those with less health expenditure risk are more likely to purchase Medigap, implying advantageous selection. By combining the MCBS and the Health and Retirement Study (HRS), we investigate the sources of this advantageous selection. These include income, education, longevity expectations and financial planing horizons, as well as cognitive ability. Once we condition on all these factors, seniors with higher expected medical expenditure are indeed more likely to purchase Medigap. Surprisingly, risk preferences do not appear to be a source of advantageous selection. But cognitive ability emerges as a particularly important factor, consistent with a view that many senior citizens have difficulty understanding Medicare and Medigap rules.

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Paper provided by Yale University, Department of Economics in its series Working Papers with number 17.

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Date of creation: May 2006
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Handle: RePEc:ecl:yaleco:17

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D82 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Asymmetric and Private Information

References listed on IDEAS
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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. Amy Finkelstein & James Poterba, 2006. "Testing for Adverse Selection with "Unused Observables"," NBER Working Papers 12112, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  2. Hullegie, P & Klein, T. J, 2009. "The effect of private health insurance on medical care utilization and self-assessed health in Germany," Health, Econometrics and Data Group (HEDG) Working Papers 09/17, HEDG, c/o Department of Economics, University of York. [Downloadable!]
  3. 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:
  4. Denise Doiron & Glenn Jones & Elizabeth Savage, 2008. "Healthy, wealthy and insured? The role of self-assessed health in the demand for private health insurance," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 17(3), pages 317-334. [Downloadable!]
  5. 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!]
  6. 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!]
  7. 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)
  8. 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!]
  9. 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)
  10. Tsvetanka Karagoyozova & Peter Siegelman, 2006. "Is There Propitious Selection in Insurance Markets?," Working papers 2006-20, University of Connecticut, Department of Economics. [Downloadable!]
  11. Liran Einav & Amy Finkelstein & Mark R. Cullen, 2008. "Estimating Welfare in Insurance Markets Using Variation in Prices," NBER Working Papers 14414, National Bureau of Economic Research, Inc. [Downloadable!] (restricted)
  12. 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)
  13. 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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