Suchergebnisse

Economic theory suggests that medical spending risk affects the extent to which households are willing to accept financial risk, and consequently their investment portfolios. In this study, we focus on the elderly for whom medical spending represents a substantial risk. We exploit the exogenous reduction in prescription drug spending risk due to the introduction of Medicare Part D in the U.S. in 2006 to identify the causal effect of medical spending risk on portfolio choice. Consistent with theory, we find that Medicare-eligible persons increased risky investment after the introduction of prescription drug coverage, relative to a younger, ineligible cohort.

Many studies document disparities between Blacks and Whites in the treatment of acute myocardial infarction on controlling for patient demographic factors and comorbid conditions. Other studies provide evidence of disparities between Hispanics and Whites in cardiac care. Such disparities may be explained by differences in the hospitals where minority and nonminority patients obtain treatment and by differences in the traits of physicians who treat minority and nonminority patients. We used 1997-2005 Florida hospital inpatient discharge data to estimate models of cardiac catheterization, percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, and coronary artery bypass grafting in Medicare fee-for-service patients 65 years and older. Controlling for hospital fixed effects does not explain Black–White disparities in cardiac treatment but largely explains Hispanic–White disparities. Controlling for physician fixed effects accounts for some extent of the racial disparities in treatment and entirely explains the ethnic disparities in treatment.