Health & Healthcare in America: From Economics to Policy

June 22 - 25, 2014

Causes and Consequences of Health Plan Choice

Health plan choice is a core tenet of the US employer and Medicare markets, as well as of health insurance markets in other countries, such as Germany. The three papers in this session consider the factors underlying health plan choice in the US employer context (Handel & Kolstad), examine the role of defaults in Medicare Advantage (Sinaiko et al.), and report on policies to encourage switching in the German Social Health Insurance (Wupperman et al.).