@inbook {NBERc12443, title = {"Healthy, Wealthy and Wise?" Revisited: An Analysis of the Causal Pathways from Socioeconomic Status to Health}, booktitle = {Investigations in the Economics of Aging}, year = {2011}, pages = {267-317}, publisher = {University of Chicago Press}, organization = {University of Chicago Press}, abstract = {In health economics, there is little dispute that the socioeconomic status (SES) of individuals is positively correlated with their health status. The size of the body of literature documenting that wealthy and well- educated people generally enjoy better health and longer life is impressive.1 The robustness of this association is underscored by the fact that the so- called health- wealth gradient has been detected in different times, countries, populations, age structures, and for both men and women. Moreover, the results are largely insensitive to the choice of SES measures (such as wealth, income, education, occupation, or social class) and health outcomes.}, keywords = {health, socioeconomic status}, url = {http://www.nber.org/chapters/c12443}, author = {Till Stowasser and Florian Heiss and Daniel McFadden and Joachim Winter} } @inbook {5232, title = {Mind the Gap! Consumer Perceptions and Choices of Medicare Part D Prescription Drug Plans}, booktitle = {Research Findings in the Economics of Aging}, series = {The Economics of Aging}, year = {2010}, pages = {413-481}, publisher = {University of Chicago Press}, organization = {University of Chicago Press}, chapter = {14}, address = {Chicago}, abstract = {Medicare Part D provides prescription drug coverage through Medicare approved plans offered by private insurance companies and HMOs. In this paper, we study the role of current prescription drug use and health risks, related expectations, and subjective factors in the demand for prescription drug insurance. To characterize rational behavior in the complex Part D environment, we develop an intertemporal optimization model of enrollment decisions. We generally find that seniors{\textquoteright} choices respond to the incentives provided by their own health status and the market environment as predicted by the optimization model. The proportion of individuals who do not attain the optimal choice is small, but the margin for error is also small since enrollment is transparently optimal for most eligible seniors. Further, there is also evidence that seniors over-react to some salient features of the choice situation, do not take full account of the future benefit and cost consequences of their decisions, or the expected net benefits and risk properties of alternative plans.}, keywords = {End of life decisions, Healthcare, Medicare/Medicaid/Health Insurance}, isbn = {0-226-90306-0}, url = {https://www.nber.org/books-and-chapters/research-findings-economics-aging/mind-gap-consumer-perceptions-and-choices-medicare-part-d-prescription-drug-plans}, author = {Florian Heiss and Daniel McFadden and Joachim Winter}, editor = {David A Wise} }