How do international organizations (IO) influence domestic social policy? This paper answers this question using a comparison of IO participation in the social insurance policymaking process in Mexico in the 1940s and 1990s. There are similarities and differences between the periods. During both periods, IOs contributed technical expertise to the policy design process. The principal IO particip...

OBJECTIVE To determine who chooses a Consumer-Driven Health Plan (CDHP) in a multiplan, multiproduct setting, and, specifically, whether the CDHP attracts the sicker employees in a company's risk pool. STUDY DESIGN We estimated a health plan choice equation for employees of the University of Minnesota, who had a choice in 2002 of a CDHP and three other health plans--a traditional health maint...

In recent years, for-profit (FP) firms have replaced nonprofit (NP) organizations as the most prevalent form of health maintenance organization (HMO). In this paper, we provide empirical evidence on the pricing practices of both organizational forms. We theorize that nonprofit HMOs derive utility from conduct that increases their marginal cost above the minimum level. They exhibit this conduct ...

We develop a model of premium sharing for firms that offer multiple insurance plans. We assume that firms offer one low quality plan and one high quality plan. Under the assumption of wage rigidities we found that the employee's contribution to each plan is an increasing function of that plan's premium. The effect of the other plan's premium is ambiguous. We test our hypothesis using data from ...

Using the Diagnostic Cost Group (DCG) model developed from a national sample, we examine biased selection among one fee-for-service (FFS) plan, one preferred provider organization, and several health maintenance organizations (HMOs) in Massachusetts. The proportions of enrollees in low-risk groups are higher in the HMO plans and lower in the FFS plan. The average age in the FFS plan is 9 years ...

Medicare Advantage (MA) enrollment has changed dramatically in 2011 as enrollment has shifted from private fee-for-service (PFFS) plans into preferred provider organization (PPO) plans. PFFS plans dominated the growth of the rural MA market from 2005 to 2010; however, a significant number of PFFS plans have left the market due to legislative changes that required plans to provide protections fo...