Melissa A. Boyle

The Asset and Income Profiles of Residents in Seniors Housing and Care Communities What Can Be Learned From Existing Data Sets

The authors use existing, nationally representative surveys to assess the economic characteristics of individuals in three categories of seniors housing and care facilities: independent living communities (ILCs), assisted living residences (ALRs), and continuing care retirement communities (CCRCs). The findings highlight the strengths and weaknesses of using the Health and Retirement Study, National Long-Term Care Survey, and Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey to describe this segment of the population. The results suggest that residents in ILCs and ALRs have lower average incomes than the average costs of these care communities. Conversely, CCRC residents have higher incomes and more assets than those living in private homes, suggesting that CCRCs attract the wealthiest seniors. However, longitudinal analysis is prohibited by the small sample sizes.

Measuring tax incidence: a natural experiment in the hybrid vehicle market

This study measures the economic incidence of the hybrid vehicle tax credit implemented in the Energy Policy Act of 2005. By comparing hybrids with gasoline-powered counterparts as the credit was phased out and expired, we are able to isolate the impact of the credit on the market price of hybrid vehicles. We conclude that hybrid prices increase by

Dual-Eligible Medicaid Spending: Are We on the Flat of the Curve?

0.75 on average for every additional dollar of credit. Thus, the majority of the subsidy accrues to sellers, potentially encouraging producers to increase the variety and availability of hybrid models on the market.

A SURVEY OF HOUSE PRICE HEDONIC STUDIES OF THE IMPACT OF ENVIRONMENTAL EXTERNALITIES

For the U.S. Medicare population as a whole, previous studies show that additional medical spending at the margin is ineffective. For the elderly population overall, higher spending on health care does not appear to improve health outcomes or quality of life. The Medicaid literature, however, has shown benefits of increased spending on lower income populations such as single mothers. This suggests that there may be beneficial effects of spending on different segments of the Medicare population, particularly those most at risk - the low-income elderly. We use data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey to examine whether increased medical spending results in differential use of medical services and/or improved health outcomes for low-income elderly who are dually-eligible for Medicare and Medicaid. We utilize state-level variation in Medicaid spending in a difference-in differences framework comparing the dual-eligible population to the near-eligible population just above the means test cutoff to investigate whether additional spending by Medicaid results in differences in health and service use for low-income elderly. Preliminary results suggest that additional spending leads to small increases in drug spending and no other significant increases in utilization or health improvements.