Prices and Productivity in Managed Care Insurance / David M. Cutler, Mark McClellan, Joseph P. Newhouse.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cutler, David M.

Contributor:

National Bureau of Economic Research.

McClellan, Mark.

Newhouse, Joseph P.

Series:

Working Paper Series (National Bureau of Economic Research) no. w6677.

NBER working paper series no. w6677

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Interest rates--Econometric models--United States.

Interest rates.

Physical Description:

1 online resource: illustrations (black and white);

Place of Publication:

Cambridge, Mass. National Bureau of Economic Research 1998.

Cambridge, Massachusetts : National Bureau of Economic Research, 1998.

Summary:

Integrating the health services and insurance industries (HMOs) could lower expenditure by reducing either the quantity of services or unit price. We compare the treatment of heart attacks and newly diagnosed chest pain in HMOs and traditional plans in two data sets. The nature of these health problems should minimize selection, and OLS and instrumental-variable estimates yield consistent results. HMOs have 30 to 40 percent lower expenditures than traditional indemnity plans. Actual treatments and health outcomes differ little; virtually all the difference in spending comes from lower unit prices. Managed care may yield substantial productivity improvements relative to traditional insurance.

Notes:

Print version record

August 1998.