title: Ethnic Disparities in Medicare Part D Satisfaction and Intention to Switch Plans.
abstract: Medicare Part D has been successful in providing affordable prescription drug coverage with relatively high levels of beneficiary reported satisfaction. We use nationally representative survey data to examine whether racial/ethnic disparities exist in reported Part D satisfaction and plan evaluations. Compared to non-Hispanic White Medicare beneficiaries, Hispanic beneficiaries are considerably more likely to report to switch to a new plan in the next year and, among beneficiaries auto-enrolled in a Part D plan, are less likely to be very satisfied with the currently enrolled plan. The findings of ethnic disparities in both Medicare Part D plan satisfaction and the intent to switch plans call for future quality and equity improvement efforts to address these disparities.
authors.affiliation: a PhD Student, Department of Economics , University at Albany, State University of New York , Albany , New York , USA.
authors.forename: Kai
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: You
authors.affiliation: b Professor and Chair, Department of Biostatistics and Computational Biology , University of Rochester Medical Center , Rochester , New York , USA.
authors.forename: Robert L
authors.initials: RL
authors.lastname: Strawderman
authors.affiliation: c Associate Professor, Department of Public Health Sciences , Division of Health Policy and Outcomes Research, University of Rochester Medical Center , Rochester , New York , USA.
authors.forename: Yue
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Li
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D001213:Asian / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D001294:Attitude to Health / Q000208:ethnology*; D044383:Black People / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D003258:Consumer Behavior / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005006:Ethnicity / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006630:Hispanic or Latino / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D054524:Medicare Part D / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D057240:Patient Preference / Q000208:ethnology*; D044469:Racial Groups / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014481:United States / Q000453:epidemiology; D001741:Black or African American
keywords: Medicare Part D; racial/ethnic disparity; satisfaction