Economics Research Seminar

We measure the impact of increased health insurer competition on negotiated hospital prices using detailed 2004 California claims data. We develop a theoretical bargaining model to motivate our empirical analysis, and use the competitiveness of Kaiser Permanente, a large vertically integrated insurer, in a hospital's market as a measure of insurer competition. We find that increasing competition reduces hospital prices on average, but that the most attractive hospitals can leverage increased competition to negotiate higher rates. This bargaining effect creates incentives
for further hospital consolidation and implies that hospital market power can impact
prices even in markets with many insurers.

Please join the Economics Department for a research seminar.  This event is open to all Case Western Reserve University faculty, Ph.D. students, economic majors and minors, and those interested in economics research.
 
Contact Information:
Teresa Kabat
teresa.kabat@case.edu
216.368.4110