title: The impact of medical savings accounts on Medicare program costs.
abstract: The 1997 Balanced Budget Act provided for a medical savings account (MSA) Medicare demonstration program. This study simulates the impact on Medicare costs of permitting beneficiaries to enroll in MSAs, using a 23,576-person sample of Medicare beneficiaries in 1992. Our simulations differed with respect to assumptions about supplementary insurance coverage, whether the government or the private sector offers MSA coverage, the degree of selection bias, and the size of the induction effects.
authors.affiliation: Strategic Planning, Health Care Financing Administration, Baltimore, MD 21244-1850, USA.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kendix
authors.forename: J D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Lubitz
mesh_terms: D003365:Costs and Cost Analysis; D017048:Health Care Costs; D006801:Humans; D020402:Medical Savings Accounts; D006278:Medicare; D014481:United States