Can Health Insurance Competition Work? Evidence from Medicare Advantage
研究了联邦医疗保险优势计划在竞争性招标规则下产生的经济剩余，发现参保者每月人均获得217美元剩余，但约三分之二被保险公司攫取，并评估了增加竞争以降低利润、提高消费者剩余的政策变化。
We estimate the economic surplus created by the Medicare Advantage program under its reformed competitive bidding rules. We use data on the universe of Medicare beneficiaries and develop a model of plan bidding that accounts for both market power and risk selection. We estimate that the Medicare Advantage program generates substantial surplus to participants (of $217 per enrollee-month), but that approximately two-thirds of this surplus is captured by insurers. We use the model to evaluate the impact of possible program changes, including changes that could increase competition and lead to lower profits and higher consumer surplus without raising taxpayer costs.