In this paper we analyze the effects of some distortions induced by prospective payment system, i.e. Upcoding, Cream Skimming and Readmissions, on hospitals’ technical efficiency. We estimate a production function using a population–based dataset composed by all active hospitals in an Italian region during the period 1998–2007. We show that cream skimming and upcoding have a negative impact on ...

Immigrant Networks and the Take-Up of Disability Programs: Evidence from US Census Data This paper examines the role of ethnic networks in disability program take-up among working-age immigrants in the United States. We find that even when controlling for country of origin and area of residence fixed effects, immigrants residing amidst a large number of co-ethnics are more likely to receive dis...

This paper studies how health insurance affects the rate at which individuals visit hospitals and emergency departments (EDs). We identify the causal effect of losing health insurance using a regression discontinuity design. We compare individuals just before and just after their 23rd birthdays, which private insurers have used as a cutoff after which students are no longer eligible for their p...

We estimate the effect of employer offers of retiree health benefits (RHBs) on the timing of retirement using a sample of Health and Retirement Study (HRS) men observed over a period of up to 12 years. We hypothesize that the effect of RHBs differs for workers of different ages—a hypothesis we can test now that the main HRS cohort has aged sufficiently. We apply three wellknown panel data estim...

We consider a life-cycle model with idiosyncratic risk in earnings, out-of-pocket medical and nursing home expenses, and survival. Partial insurance is available through welfare, Medicaid, and social security. Calibrating the model to the United States we show that savings for old-age, out-of-pocket expenses account for 13.5 percent of aggregate wealth, half of which is due to nursing home expe...

School shootings are often used in public policy debate as a justification for increased regulation, based on qualitative arguments. However, to date, no effort has been made to find valid quantitative evidence for the claims bolstering the regulation recommendations. In defense of this absence of evidence, it is usually argued that the rarity of such events does not allow the employment of qua...

We examine the effects of a feasibility scheme to provide easier access to pharmacists for patients with minor ailments. The scheme allowed pharmacists to prescribe and dispense medicines currently limited to general practitioners (GPs) without patients loosing their right to free prescriptions. We formulate a model of the rationing of GP consultations and GP supply decisions. We estimate a red...

Early Interventions and Disability Insurance: Experience from a Field Experiment This paper estimates the effects of early interventions in the Swedish sickness insurance system. The aim of the interventions is to screen and, further to, rehabilitate sick listed individuals. We find that the early interventions – in contrast to what is expected – increase the inflow into disability benefits by ...

In recent decades, the prevalence of obesity in America has increased dramatically. Though it has attracted less attention, the demographic composition of the American population also changed during this period. We decompose the increase in the average body mass index of the American population over 30 years and show that demographic changes explain a statistically significant but economically ...

Hospital markets have become highly concentrated due to increasing numbers of mergers and acquisitions. These consolidations in hospital markets may have anticompetitive or procompetitive effects due to increasing market power, economies of scale and scope and quality consequences. In this chapter, market competition and concentration and their antitrust implications in hospital markets are exa...