The Liquidity Sensitivity of Healthcare Consumption: Evidence from Social Security Payments
Tal Gross, Timothy Layton, Dániel Prinz
Abstract
Insurance is typically viewed as a mechanism for transferring resources from good to bad states. Insurance, however, may also transfer resources from high-liquidity periods to low-liquidity periods. We test for this type of transfer from health insurance by studying the distribution of Social Security checks among Medicare recipients. When Social Security checks are distributed, prescription fills increase by 6-12 percent among recipients who pay small copayments. We find no such pattern among recipients who face no copayments. The results demonstrate that more-complete insurance allows recipients to consume healthcare when they need it rather than only when they have cash.
Topics & Concepts
Social securityMarket liquidityPaymentCashConsumption (sociology)Health insuranceHealth careActuarial scienceDistribution (mathematics)EconomicsSocial insuranceBusinessFace (sociological concept)Transfer paymentMonetary economicsFinanceEconomic growthMarket economyMathematicsWelfareSocial scienceMathematical analysisSociologyGlobal Health Care IssuesHealthcare Policy and ManagementFinancial Literacy, Pension, Retirement Analysis