Chasing the Missing Diagnoses: Exploring the Unintended Consequences of Low-Cost Health Screenings

This paper investigates the consequences of removing barriers to information by studying screenings that enable medical treatment of asymptomatic health conditions. We consider two unintended consequences of reducing out-of-pocket costs of screening, as is done in the Affordable Care Act. First, lower-cost screenings attract patients with lower demand for information, who may also have lower demand for treatment. Second, expanding screening could increase adverse selection and reduce the stability of health insurance markets. Using data from three biomarker studies reflecting different populations affected by the Affordable Care Act, we find evidence for the former prediction