Investigators
Alan M. Garber (Principal Mentor) - Stanford University
M. Kate Bundorf - Stanford University
Helena Szrek, PhD

Policy-makers' perceptions regarding the ability and desire of Medicare beneficiaries to make choices about their health insurance coverage have shaped the development of the Medicare program in fundamental yet sometimes contradictory ways. Still, relatively little is known about the factors affecting the decision-making of older adults in this context. This information is necessary to evaluate the effectiveness of policies that rely on choice among competing health insurance plans to reduce the cost and improve the quality of health care covered by the Medicare program.

The investigators anticipate that this seed project will be the beginning of a larger research agenda intended to assess the effectiveness of health insurance choice in the Medicare program, by integrating classical economic views of the benefits of choice with psychological insights on the determinants and effects of choice among older adults.

This study is a seed project for the Center on Advancing Decision Making for Aging.

Contact
Moira McKinnon

Funding provided by
• National Institute on Aging