TY  - JOUR
AU  - Parente,Stephen T.
AU  - Salkever,David
AU  - DaVanzo,Joan
TI  - The Role of Consumer Knowledge of Insurance Benefits in the Demand for Preventative Health
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 9912
PY  - 2003
Y2  - August 2003
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w9912
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w9912.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
David S. Salkever
UMBC
Department of Public Policy
1000 Hilltop Circle, Public Policy 418
Baltimore, MD  21250
Tel: 410/455-8459
Fax: 410-455-8066
E-Mail: salkever@umbc.edu
AB  - In 1992, the United States Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) introduced new insurance coverage for two preventive services  influenza vaccinations and mammograms. Economists typically assume transactions occur with perfect information and foresight.  As a test of the value of information, we estimate the effect of consumer knowledge of these benefits on their demand.  Treating knowledge as endogenous in a two-part model of demand, we find that consumer knowledge has a substantial positive effect on the use of preventive services. Our findings suggest that strategies to educate the insured Medicare population about coverage of preventive services may have substantial social value.
ER  -