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Biomedical subjects

M D Packard

Publications and source records attributed to M D Packard.

6 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1992

Health of retired workers: survival status and Medicare service use.

Data from the Social Security Administration's 1982 New Beneficiary Survey and Master Beneficiary Record were matched with 1984 data from the Medicare Automated Data Retrieval System to study the effects of self-reported health on subsequent health service usage and survival. Proportionately, more new retired workers who reported poorer health in 1982 were decreased by December 1984. Functionally dependent beneficiaries as determined by the Functional Capacity Limitation Index had death rates four to five times greater than those who reported no limitations. The health status of retired workers who received Social Security benefits before age 65 was no better than beneficiaries 65 or over. Decedents were more likely than survivors to incur Medicare charges, and to have substantially higher median charges--$8,834 compared with $285.

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PubMed1990

The earnings test and the short-run work response to its elimination.

Eliminating the earnings test will have different effects on the work effort of persons aged 65-69, depending on whether or not they are currently working or currently receiving Social Security benefits. This article reviews the development of the earnings test and examines the theoretical implications on work effort of removing the test for members of this age group. It looks at the Current Population Survey (CPS) data to determine how many persons aged 65-69 have characteristics that can be identified with groups that would theoretically increase, decrease, or not change their work effort should they no longer be subject to the earnings test. This analysis suggests that at least 80 percent, and perhaps more than 90 percent, of the 9.7 million persons aged 65-69 will not change their level of work effort if the earnings test is eliminated. Individuals who would modify their hours worked and earnings are fairly evenly split among those who would increase, decrease, or have an undetermined direction of change in their work effort.

Aged↗
PubMed1987

Income of new disabled-worker beneficiaries and their families: findings from the New Beneficiary Survey.

In 1982, disabled workers who came on the social security disability insurance rolls from mid-1980 to mid-1981 had median monthly incomes of less than $500 if they were unmarried and less than $1,300 if they were married. These median monthly income levels, which include the income of a spouse and minor children if present, are roughly half those of the noninstitutionalized population aged 25-64. Social security benefits are the most important source of income for disabled workers and their families: They account for 40 percent of the total family income of married disabled workers and 65 percent of the total income of unmarried disabled workers. Social security benefits provide at least half of all income for more than 80 percent of unmarried disabled-worker beneficiaries and for 50 percent of the married beneficiaries. For married disabled-worker beneficiaries, earnings of the spouse are the second most important income source. Spousal earnings account for 28 percent of total income. Pensions and asset income each account for about 10 percent of total income for these married beneficiaries. Earnings are not an important source of income for unmarried disabled-worker beneficiaries for whom they amount to only about 3 percent of total income. Pensions, asset income, and public transfers each account for about 10 percent of total income of the unmarried beneficiaries.

Adult↗
PubMed1982

Retirement options under the Swedish national pension system.

This article reviews the retirement options available to Swedes aged 60 to 64 under their national pension system. Summaries of the various options are followed by an analysis of the relative attractiveness of each option using hypothetical 60-year-old workers with varying characteristics. The proportion of 60- to 64-year-old Swedes selecting each option corresponds closely to the relative attractiveness orderings computed for these hypothetical workers. Sweden has a unique pension alternative called the partial pension program that allows workers aged 60-64 to reduce their hours of work to within prescribed limits and receive a pension equal to half the earnings they lost. The Swedish experience with this popular pension is described in some detail.

Aged↗
PubMed1981

Price and income changes for the elderly.

It is widely believed that inflation is harmful to the elderly. Two frequent arguments in support of this belief are that some important income sources for the elderly are less than fully indexed to inflation and that the elderly spend heavily on goods and services whose prices rise faster than the average inflation rate. This article focuses on both the income issue and the expenditure issue. The first part of the article evaluates the question of whether an economy-wide consumer price index is an adequate measure of the cost of living for the elderly population. The evaluation is made by constructing a consumer price index using expenditure weights that are more appropriate for the elderly population. It is found that over the 1967-79 period the movement of this constructed index was very similar to that of the economy-wide index. The constructed index did grow slightly faster than the economy-wide index, however. The second part of the article focuses on changes in average real incomes of the elderly over the 1970-77 period. Two dimensions of income changes are examined. First, the incomes of families headed by persons aged 65 or over are compared at different points in time. It is found that average real income of this age class was 10 percent higher in 1977 than in 1970. Second, the 1970 and 1977 incomes of the cohort of families headed by persons aged 65 or over in 1970 are compared. It is found that average real income of this cohort fell by 4 percent between 1970 and 1977.

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