Replication data for: Do Physicians Respond to the Costs and Cost-Sensitivity of Their Patients?

Principal Investigator(s): View help for Principal Investigator(s) Mariana Carrera; Dana P. Goldman; Geoffrey Joyce; Neeraj Sood

Version: View help for Version V1

Name	File Type	Size	Last Modified
Programs-and-Data			12/03/2019 03:49:PM
LICENSE.txt	text/plain	14.6 KB	12/03/2019 10:50:AM

Project Citation:

Project Description

Summary: We use individual level data on purchases of cholesterol-lowering drugs to study the responses of physicians and patients to variation in the cost of drugs. In a sample of first-time statin prescriptions to employees from 12 Fortune 500 firms, we find that co-pay variation across plans has a small effect on the choice of drug, and this effect does not vary with patient income. After the highly publicized patent expiration of Zocor, however, prescriptions for this drug increased substantially, especially for lower income patients. Our analysis suggests that physicians can perceive the price sensitivity of their patients and adjust their initial prescriptions accordingly, but only in response to a large and universal price change.

Scope of Project

JEL Classification:
      D14 Household Saving; Personal Finance
      G22 Insurance; Insurance Companies; Actuarial Studies
      I11 Analysis of Health Care Markets
      I13 Health Insurance, Public and Private
      L65 Chemicals; Rubber; Drugs; Biotechnology; Plastics

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Published Versions

V1 [2019-12-03]

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DDI 2.5

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