The Welfare Impact of Reducing Choice in Medicare Part D: A Comparison of Two Regulation Strategies

This paper previously circulated under the title "Measuring Welfare and the Effects of Regulation in a Government-Created Market: The Case of Medicare Part D Plans." We would like to thank Mike Baye , Leemore Dafny, Gautam Gowrisankaran, Brian Januzik, Jonathan Ketcham, Amanda Kowalski, Dan Miller, Chris Roebuck, Minjae Song and seminar participants at the Federal Trade Commission, the 7th Annual International Industrial Organization Conference, and the 3rd Biennial Conference of the American Society of Health Economists (ASHEcon) for many helpful comments. We also thank the Cornell University Consumer Pharmaceutical Policy Center, funded by an unrestricted educational grant from the Merck Company Foundation to Cornell University. The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Bureau of Economic Research.

• September 5, 2008