Does It Pay to Know Prices in Health Care?

A-Tier
Journal: American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
Year: 2017
Volume: 9
Issue: 1
Pages: 154-79

Score contribution per author:

4.022 = (α=2.01 / 1 authors) × 2.0x A-tier

α: calibrated so average coauthorship-adjusted count equals average raw count

Abstract

Consumers rarely know the price of medical care before they consume it. I use variation in the timing of access to a new source of price information to show how access to and search for price information leads consumers to pay significantly less for care. I provide suggestive evidence that insurance coverage inhibits the use of price information, rationalizing the relatively low rates of search. The results indicate that availability of price information could have large impacts on prices even in the absence of general equilibrium effects.

Technical Details

RePEc Handle
repec:aea:aejpol:v:9:y:2017:i:1:p:154-79
Journal Field
General
Author Count
1
Added to Database
2026-01-25