Preventative care refers to care taken to prevent future diseases rather than to treat current ones. Compared with ER care, preventative care is rarely urgent, and benefits can be difficult to measure: if you had the flu vaccine this year but did not catch the flu, it is impossible to tell if it was the shot or assiduous hand-washing that preserved you.

a. Given this description of preventative care, would you expect preventative care to be more or less price-sensitive compared with inpatient care? Why?

b. Table 2.14 shows evidence on preventative care from the RAND HIE. Summarize the data in the table and note any interesting patterns. Was your prediction correct?

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Table 2.14. Percentage with preventative care in the three years from the RAND HIE Study. Females 17-44 Females 45-64 Free Copay Males 17-44 Any care 27.2% 23.1% Males 45-64 Any care 39.1% 27.4% Any care Pap test 83.7% 72.2% 76.9%** 65.8% Any care 76.9% 65.3%** Pap test 65.0% 52.8%**