Dr. Cyril Chang to be Published in Medical Care Research and Review

For release:  November 16, 2015

Dr. Cyril Chang, professor of Economics and the director of the Methodist Le Bonheur Center for Healthcare Economics, had a paper accepted for publication in Medical Care Research and Review. The paper was co-authored with Dr. Mustafa Hussein, a former Ph.D. student at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), and his former doctoral advisors at UTHSC in Memphis.

The paper focused on Medicare Part D impact on racial/ethnic disparities in adherence to cardiovascular (CV) medications among seniors. It used data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (2002-10) on 14,221 Medicare recipients (65+) and 3,456 near-elderly controls (60-64). It found that Medicare Part D was associated with a 16-percentage-point decrease in the white-Hispanic disparity in overall CV medication adherence. Black-white disparities worsened among men after Part D participation by 21 percentage-points. Results found that increasing access and improving the quality of medication use among disadvantaged seniors should be a policy priority for Medicare beneficiaries.