Social Exclusion and Switching Barriers in Medicare Part D Choices

Dong Woo Ko, Young Han Bae and Jayoung Han
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Dong Woo Ko: School of Business, Hankuk University of Foreign Studies, Seoul 02450, Korea
Young Han Bae: Department of Marketing, Pennsylvania State University, Greater Allegheny, McKeesport, PA 15132, USA
Jayoung Han: School of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, Fairleigh Dickinson University, Florham Park, NJ 07932, USA

Sustainability, 2018, vol. 10, issue 7, 1-10

Abstract: Previous studies have shown that Medicare beneficiaries do not tend to switch their prescription drug plans (Part D), even though they can greatly save on the money spent on drugs by switching plans. To explore this occurrence, the present study focused on the concept of social exclusion—one of the most important characteristics prevalent in the elderly. This study compared the impact of two types of social exclusion on the association between psychological cost and plan switching: active (or rejected) social exclusion and passive (or ignored) social exclusion. The study’s aim was to examine the moderating effect of social exclusion on the relationship between the cost of switching and willingness to switch plan to build sustainable health care system. The Prescription Drug Study supplementary to the Health and Retirement Study (HRS) data were utilized for analysis by applying a Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM) ( N = 1042). The findings suggest that active social exclusion moderates the relationship between the switching cost and willingness to switch plan. This study’s findings will help policymakers better understand the elderly’s decision-making process pertaining to plans and promote their informed plan decisions to build sustainable health care system.

Keywords: sustainable health care system; ignored; rejected (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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