# NBER Center for Aging and Health Research

> **NIH NIH P30** · NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH · 2021 · $94,882

## Abstract

OTHER PROJECT INFORMATION – Project Summary/Abstract
Cognitive Decline and Health Insurance Decisions and Outcomes
This administrative supplement application proposes a new Center pilot project, to be conducted as part of the
NBER Center for Aging and Health Research. The Center is structured around several high-priority research
themes that are incubated and advanced through network meetings and pilot projects. While the NBER Center
is not an Alzheimer’s-focused grant, the economics of Alzheimer’s disease has been identified by Center leaders
as one of several high-priority themes for new research development. The proposed new pilot study explores
how cognitive decline, including the onset and progression of mild cognitive impairment (MCI), Alzheimer’s
disease, and related dementias (ADRD) relate to people’s health insurance enrollment decisions and subsequent
outcomes. Medicare currently relies on a “managed competition” approach to supplemental insurance for long-
term care, prescription drugs, and other coverage not included in traditional Medicare. In this approach, private
insurers compete for enrollees within regulated markets. Some people, including those suffering from cognitive
decline, may have difficulty navigating such markets, and the enrollment decisions they make may in turn affect
other health outcomes. The specific aims of the pilot project are to explore how cognitive decline relates to: (1)
the health insurance choice process, including the portfolio of coverage and use of assistance in making
enrollment decisions; (2) inertia in insurance plan enrollment, defined as the likelihood of switching to plans that
provide greater risk protection or lower costs; and (3) outcomes of Medicare Part D choices, describing how well
each person fared under their chosen plan. The study will be conducted using a longitudinal database that tracks
the onset and progression of cognitive decline among Medicare beneficiaries; their enrollment in Medigap plans,
Medicare Part D prescription drug insurance plans, Medicare Advantage plans, employer-sponsored plans, and
plans that provide long-term care coverage, including Medicaid; and many other health and health spending
measures. The pilot research would provide the preliminary findings and support the methodological
development for a larger R01 proposal that follows directly from the exploratory analyses described here.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10286675
- **Project number:** 3P30AG012810-26S1
- **Recipient organization:** NATIONAL BUREAU OF ECONOMIC RESEARCH
- **Principal Investigator:** ANNE CASE
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2021
- **Award amount:** $94,882
- **Award type:** 3
- **Project period:** 1997-08-01 → 2025-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10286675

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10286675, NBER Center for Aging and Health Research (3P30AG012810-26S1). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10286675. Licensed CC0.

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