| Description |
108 p. : ill. |
| Note |
Advisor: Gail Jensen Summers |
| Thesis |
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Wayne State University, 2012. |
| Summary |
This dissertation seeks to evaluate whether Medicare Part D has reduced racial/ethnic disparities in prescription drug utilization and spending among Medicare seniors. Using nationally representative data on White, African-American, and Hispanic Medicare seniors from the 2002-2009 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, this dissertation analyzes eight measures of access and utilization related to prescription medications. This dissertation applies the Institute of Medicine's definition of a racial/ethnic disparity, and adopts a difference-in-differences quasi-experimental design, using a multivariate regression framework. It finds strong evidence that Medicare Part D reduced ethnic disparities in prescription drug use, total prescription drug cost, out-of-pocket prescription drug cost, and prevalence of any emergency department visits between White and Hispanic seniors. However, it has little effect on disparities between White and African-American seniors. This dissertation finds that there still exist significant racial/ethnic disparities between White and minority seniors in prescription drugs utilization and spending. |
| Subject |
Economics
|
|
Health services administration
|
|
Medicare
|
| Added Title |
Wayne State University thesis (Ph.D.) : Economics.
|
| OCLC # |
814034130 |
|
