This dissertation seeks to evaluate whether Medicare Part D has reduced racial/ethnic disparities in prescription drug utilization and spending among Medicare seniors. Using nationally representative data on White, African-American, and Hispanic Medicare seniors from the 2002-2009 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, this dissertation analyzes eight measures of access and utilization related to prescription medications. This dissertation applies the Institute of Medicine's definition of a racial/ethnic disparity, and adopts a difference-in-differences quasi-experimental design, using a multivariate regression framework. It finds strong evidence that Medicare Part D reduced ethnic disparities in prescription drug use, total prescription drug cost, out-of-pocket prescription drug cost, and prevalence of any emergency department visits between White and Hispanic seniors. However, it has little effect on disparities between White and African-American seniors. This dissertation finds that there still exist significant racial/ethnic disparities between White and minority seniors in prescription drugs utilization and spending.
","abstract_html":"<p>This dissertation seeks to evaluate whether Medicare Part D has reduced racial/ethnic disparities in prescription drug utilization and spending among Medicare seniors. Using nationally representative data on White, African-American, and Hispanic Medicare seniors from the 2002-2009 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, this dissertation analyzes eight measures of access and utilization related to prescription medications. This dissertation applies the Institute of Medicine's definition of a racial/ethnic disparity, and adopts a difference-in-differences quasi-experimental design, using a multivariate regression framework. It finds strong evidence that Medicare Part D reduced ethnic disparities in prescription drug use, total prescription drug cost, out-of-pocket prescription drug cost, and prevalence of any emergency department visits between White and Hispanic seniors. However, it has little effect on disparities between White and African-American seniors. This dissertation finds that there still exist significant racial/ethnic disparities between White and minority seniors in prescription drugs utilization and spending.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Mahmoudi, Elham"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Ph.D.","degree_level":"Open Access Dissertation","degree_discipline":"Economics","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["Gail A. Jensen Summers"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"2012-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:59:11Z","subjects":["Medicare Part D","Racial/Ethnic Disparity","Economics","Medicine and Health Sciences"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/549","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["Gail A. Jensen Summers"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Mahmoudi, Elham"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2012-01-01T08:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Economics"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Open Access Dissertation"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Ph.D."]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Medicare Part D","Racial/Ethnic Disparity","Economics","Medicine and Health Sciences"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://digitalcommons.wayne.edu/oa_dissertations/549"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This dissertation seeks to evaluate whether Medicare Part D has reduced racial/ethnic disparities in prescription drug utilization and spending among Medicare seniors. Using nationally representative data on White, African-American, and Hispanic Medicare seniors from the 2002-2009 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey, this dissertation analyzes eight measures of access and utilization related to prescription medications. This dissertation applies the Institute of Medicine's definition of a racial/ethnic disparity, and adopts a difference-in-differences quasi-experimental design, using a multivariate regression framework. It finds strong evidence that Medicare Part D reduced ethnic disparities in prescription drug use, total prescription drug cost, out-of-pocket prescription drug cost, and prevalence of any emergency department visits between White and Hispanic seniors. However, it has little effect on disparities between White and African-American seniors. This dissertation finds that there still exist significant racial/ethnic disparities between White and minority seniors in prescription drugs utilization and spending.
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