The role of consumer knowledge of insurance benefits in the demand for preventive health care among the elderly
研究1992年美国新增流感疫苗和乳腺X光检查保险覆盖后，消费者对保险福利的了解如何影响其预防服务使用，发现知识有显著正向作用，提示教育参保老人有社会价值。
In 1992, the United States Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) introduced new insurance coverage for two preventive services--influenza vaccinations and mammograms. Economists typically assume transactions occur with perfect information and foresight. As a test of the value of information, we estimate the effect of consumer knowledge of these benefits on their demand. Treating knowledge as endogenous in a two-part model of demand, we find that consumer knowledge has a substantial positive effect on the use of preventive services. Our findings suggest that strategies to educate the insured Medicare population about coverage of preventive services may have substantial social value.