Working Paper: NBER ID: w20653
Authors: Martha J. Bailey; Andrew Goodman-Bacon
Abstract: This paper uses the rollout of the first Community Health Centers (CHCs) to study the longer-term health effects of increasing access to primary care. Within ten years, CHCs are associated with a reduction in age-adjusted mortality rates of 2 percent among those 50 and older. The implied 7 to 13 percent decrease in one-year mortality risk among beneficiaries amounts to 20 to 40 percent of the 1966 poor/non-poor mortality gap for this age group. Large effects for those 65 and older suggest that increased access to primary care has longer-term benefits, even for populations with near universal health insurance.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: I28; I3; J14; J18
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Establishment of CHCs (I19) | Reduction in age-adjusted mortality rates (I14) |
| Establishment of CHCs (I19) | Decrease in cardiovascular-related deaths (I12) |
| Increased access to a regular source of care (I11) | Improved health outcomes (I14) |
| Establishment of CHCs (I19) | Increased share of older poor adults with a regular source of care (I14) |
| Establishment of CHCs (I19) | Decrease in out-of-pocket prescription drug expenditures (H51) |
| Reduction in mortality rates (I14) | Implied decrease in one-year mortality risk (D15) |
| Reduction in one-year mortality risk (I14) | Reduction of mortality gap between poor and non-poor individuals (I14) |