TY  - JOUR
AU  - Thomasson,Melissa A.
TI  - Did Blue Cross and Blue Shield Suffer from Adverse Selection? Evidence from the 1950s
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 9167
PY  - 2002
Y2  - September 2002
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w9167
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w9167.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Melissa A. Thomasson
Miami University/FSB
Department of Economics MSC 1035
800 E. High Street, Rm. #2054
Oxford, OH  45056
Tel: 513/529-2858
Fax: 513/529-8047
E-Mail: thomasma@muohio.edu
AB  - This paper uses a unique data set from 1957 to examine whether or not Blue Cross and Blue Shield suffered from an adverse selection death spiral after for-profit commercial insurance companies entered the market for health insurance. Results suggest that moving to experience rating may have helped the Blues counteract adverse selection in the group health insurance market. Adverse selection posed a greater problem for the Blues in the market for individual health insurance, possibly because of differences in the way the Blues screened potential enrollees relative to commercial insurance companies.
ER  -