Working Paper: CEPR ID: DP16642
Authors: Sonia Bhalotra; Manuel Fernández
Abstract: We investigate supply-side barriers to medical care in Colombia, where citizens havea constitutional right to health, but insurance companies impose restrictions. We useadministrative data on judicial claims for health as a proxy for unmet demand. Wevalidate this using the health services utilization register, showing that judicial claimsmap into large, pervasive decreases in medical consultations, procedures, hospitalizationsand emergency care. This manifests in population health outcomes. We identifyincreases in mortality pervasive across cause, age and sex, with larger increases forcancer, individuals over the age of fifty, women and the poor.
Keywords: health care; health insurance; mortality; right to health; litigation; universal health coverage; colombia
JEL Codes: G22; I11; I13; I18; K38; K42
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| supply-side restrictions on access to healthcare services (I11) | mortality rates (I12) |
| tutela rate (K13) | mortality rates (I12) |
| tutela rate (K13) | medical consultations (I11) |
| tutela rate (K13) | hospitalizations (I19) |
| tutela rate (K13) | emergency care (I11) |