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Attribute substitution in early enrollment decisions into Medicare prescription drug plans
Author(s) -
Frakt Austin B.,
Pizer Steven D.
Publication year - 2008
Publication title -
health economics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.55
H-Index - 109
eISSN - 1099-1050
pISSN - 1057-9230
DOI - 10.1002/hec.1303
Subject(s) - substitution (logic) , prescription drug , medicare part d , medical prescription , drug , actuarial science , business , medicine , computer science , pharmacology , programming language
Stand‐alone outpatient prescription drug plans (PDPs), introduced in January 2006, have become the most popular source for coverage of outpatient prescription drugs under Medicare relative to other available Medicare plan types (e.g. Medicare Advantage drug plans). Using county‐level enrollment figures from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services linked to other public sources, we study attribute substitution in beneficiary decision‐making with respect to PDP enrollment. To do so, we relate county‐level PDP market share to county‐level political support for the administration implementing the new benefit (the Bush Administration), controlling for socio‐demographic and market characteristics. We find statistically significant evidence that greater support for the Bush administration is associated with increased PDP market share. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.