A prepaid medical plan. Cost, use, and effects in a retirement home

W. M. Bortz, M. Kern and J. Hyde

A model experience of a prepaid medical plan for a group of people is analyzed. No-barrier cost and physician access lead to altered use characteristics. Among these are increased physician, nurse, and nursing home use, and decreased hospital use. The overall cost is increased. Any comprehensive health-care plan that would propose comprehensive first-dollar coverage would likely encounter similar use characteristics.