* Is the medical loss ratio a good target measure for regulation in the individual market for health insurance?
- Effective January 1, 2011, individual market health insurers must meet a minimum medical loss ratio (MLR) of 80%. This law aims to encourage 'productive' forms of competition by increasing the proportion of premium dollars spent on clinical benefits. To date, very little is known about the performance of firms in the individual health insurance market, including how MLRs are related to insurer and market characteristics. The MLR comprises one component of the price-cost margin, a traditional gauge of market power; the other component is percent of premiums spent on administrative expenses. We use data from the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (2001-2009) to evaluate whether the MLR is a good target measure for regulation by comparing the two components of the price-cost margin between markets that are more competitive versus those that are not, accounting for firm and market characteristics. We find that insurers with monopoly power have lower MLRs. Moreover, we find no evidence suggesting that insurers' administrative expenses are lower in more concentrated insurance markets. Thus, our results are largely consistent with the interpretation that the MLR could serve as a target measure of market power in regulating the individual market for health insurance but with notable limited ability to capture product and firm heterogeneity.
=>1.低くする/なる, 下げる/下がる, 卑しめる, 2.しかめっ面, 3.lowの比較級
Overview of noun lower
The noun lower has 1 sense (no senses from tagged texts)
1. lower berth, lower -- (the lower of two berths)
Overview of verb lower
The verb lower has 5 senses (first 3 from tagged texts)
1. (15) lower, take down, let down, get down, bring down -- (move something or somebody to a lower
position; "take down the vase from the shelf")
2. (6) lower, lour -- (set lower; "lower a rating"; "lower expectations")
3. (1) turn down, lower, lour -- (make lower or quieter; "turn down the volume of a radio")
4. lower, depress -- (cause to drop or sink; "The lack of rain had depressed the water level in the
reservoir")
5. frown, glower, lour, lower -- (look angry or sullen, wrinkle one's forehead, as if to signal
disapproval)
Overview of adj low
The adj low has 10 senses (first 6 from tagged texts)
1. (55) low -- (less than normal in degree or intensity or amount; "low prices"; "the reservoir is
low")
2. (23) low -- (literal meanings; being at or having a relatively small elevation or upward
extension; "low ceilings"; "low clouds"; "low hills"; "the sun is low"; "low furniture"; "a low
bow")
3. (11) low, low-toned -- (very low in volume; "a low murmur"; "the low-toned murmur of the surf")
4. (6) low -- (unrefined in character; "low comedy")
5. (4) low, low-pitched -- (used of sounds and voices; low in pitch or frequency)
6. (3) abject, low, low-down, miserable, scummy, scurvy -- (of the most contemptible kind; "abject
cowardice"; "a low stunt to pull"; "a low-down sneak"; "his miserable treatment of his family"; "You
miserable skunk!"; "a scummy rabble"; "a scurvy trick")
7. humble, low, lowly, modest, small -- (low or inferior in station or quality; "a humble cottage";
"a lowly parish priest"; "a modest man of the people"; "small beginnings")
8. depleted, low -- (no longer sufficient; "supplies are low"; "our funds are depleted")
9. broken, crushed, humbled, humiliated, low -- (subdued or brought low in condition or status;
"brought low"; "a broken man"; "his broken spirit")
10. gloomy, grim, blue, depressed, dispirited, down, downcast, downhearted, down in the mouth, low,
low-spirited -- (filled with melancholy and despondency ; "gloomy at the thought of what he had to
face"; "gloomy predictions"; "a gloomy silence"; "took a grim view of the economy"; "the darkening
mood"; "lonely and blue in a strange city"; "depressed by the loss of his job"; "a dispirited and
resigned expression on her face"; "downcast after his defeat"; "feeling discouraged and
downhearted")
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