Does Medicare Part D Save Lives?

Abe Dunn and Adam Hale Shapiro
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Adam Hale Shapiro: Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

American Journal of Health Economics, 2019, vol. 5, issue 1, 126-164

Abstract: We examine the impact of Medicare Part D on mortality for the population over the age of 65. We identify the effects of the reform using variation in drug coverage across counties before the reform was implemented. Studying mortality rates immediately before and after the reform, we find that cardiovascular-related mortality drops significantly in those counties most affected by Part D. Estimates suggest that up to 26,000 more individuals were alive in mid-2007 because of the Part D implementation in 2006. We estimate the welfare benefit from lives saved to range from $1.5 to $4.8 billion.

Keywords: prescription drug insurance; Medicare Part D; mortality (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I11 I13 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (7)

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Related works:
Journal Article: Does Medicare Part D Save Lives? (2019)
Working Paper: Does Medicare Part D Save Lives? (2015)
Working Paper: Does Medicare Part D save lives? (2015)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ucp:amjhec:v:5:y:2019:i:1:p:126-164

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