Preliminary and Incomplete

The time spent waiting for an outpatient appointment limits demand in health care delivery systems that do not use financial prices for this purpose. Although outpatient waiting times have been relatively low in the United States, there is reason to believe they may increase in the near future. We estimate models of physician utilization and insurance plan choice for American veterans who were jointly eligible for services from the Veterans Administration (low cost, high waits) and Medicare (higher cost, low waits). We use these models to investigate the financial costs for patients of outpatient waiting times. We find that elderly veterans make very small changes to their utilization patterns and insurance choices in response to changes in outpatient waiting times. We also find that policies that promote access for high-priority veterans seem to reduce the burden of waiting times on the target groups. Contact: Steven D. Pizer Health Care Financing & Economics Mail Stop 152H 150 South Huntington Ave. Boston, MA 02130 [email protected]