Response Paper
Please answer the following questions THOROUGHLY
1. According to Hal Arkes’ article on the consequences of the hindsight bias in medical decision making, what is the hindsight bias and how does it influence the decisions made by jurors in medical malpractice lawsuits?
Economists Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein wrote a book called “Nudge” about the ways that government policies can “nudge” people towards making decisions that are in line with their own best interests as well as societal best interest. The excerpt that you read details two examples. First – how to get more senior citizens to sign up for a Medicare prescription drug coverage that would save seniors and the government large amounts of money. Second – how to increase organ donation rates to get more organs from people who are willing to donate them (usually after death) to those who need them.
2. Most states randomly assigned senior citizens into medicare plans (if the individual subscriber did not make their own choice). Maine used an “intelligent” default plan. Describe these two plans (random default vs. intelligent assignment). Which led to better outcomes?
3. Thaler and Sunstein describe 3 possible methods of obtaining consent to donate organs. Identify and describe these 3 methods. Which of these methods is the one used by most states in the US?
