Have the excessive choices associated with the new Medicare prescription drug plan worked against individuals? Do they deter decision-makers from making advantageous choices despite monetary savings? Current research by Stacey Wood, assistant professor of psychology at Scripps College and clinical neuropsychologist, explores whether this is true.
Professor Wood and student research assistants at The Wood Laboratory at Scripps College are conducting a four-month study to examine how people make insurance and long-term care insurance decisions including the new Medicare prescription plans.
“We are trying to understand how to make this an easier transition for older adults,” says Amy Vanderloop ’07. “In order to do that, we must know a little bit about how their decisions are made.”
Amy, a Scripps senior majoring in neuroscience major, is a lab project manager this spring. Each semester students volunteer their time at The Wood Laboratory as research assistants. As team members, students contribute to all stages of research including study design, developing methodological questions, and statistical and conceptual analysis of the project.
Beginning in 2006, Medicare subscribers ages 65 and older became eligible to purchase insurance coverage that pays some of the costs of prescription drugs through private insurance companies. The beneficent program has many options; some states have more than 50 plans to choose from—Los Angeles beneficiaries currently have 83.
According to Wood, this prescription drug plan reform was thought to be advantageous because of societal beliefs about choice: the more, the better. Recent evidence suggests that when choice becomes excessive, it deters decision-making, causing paralysis rather than “freedom.”
Wood is conducting the research project, funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, in collaboration with colleagues Dr. Thomas Rice at UCLA and Dr. Yaniv Hanoch, now at the University of Plymouth, UK.
Professor Wood has conducted extensive research on how the tendency to evaluate and react to positive, neutral, and negative information changes across our lifespan. An expert on a number of issues related to aging and the brain, including dementia, Alzheimer’s disease, decision-making, and maintaining autonomy, Wood has published extensively in peer-reviewed medical and psychological journals. Her work on decision-making is funded by a grant from the National Institute on Aging. She holds a PhD in clinical neuropsychology from the University of Houston.
For more information about this project or to volunteer, contact Professor Stacey Wood at stacey.wood@scrippscollege.edu or (909) 607-9505.