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Article: Medicare and inequalities in health outcomes: The case of breast cancer
- Article from:
- Contemporary Economic Policy
- Article date:
- January 1, 2002
- Author:
CopyrightCopyright Western Economic Association Jan 2002. Provided by ProQuest LLC. (Hide copyright information)
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This article evaluates whether expanding Medicare to cover those between ages 55 and 64 will improve the health status of these near-elderly individuals. We compare the experiences of near-elderly and elderly women with breast cancer and pay special attention to those demographic groups traditionally thought to be disadvantaged. Using unique individual-level data from the National Cancer Institute, we find that expanding Medicare does not improve the probability that a black woman will have her cancer diagnosed early. However, if she does happen to be diagnosed early, a discrete-time hazard model of survival finds that the price effects of insurance will improve her odds of survival. (JEL ...