Working Paper: NBER ID: w22288
Authors: Carlos Dobkin; Amy Finkelstein; Raymond Kluender; Matthew J. Notowidigdo
Abstract: We examine some economic impacts of hospital admissions using an event study approach in two datasets: survey data from the Health and Retirement Study, and hospital admissions data linked to consumer credit reports. We report estimates of the impact of hospital admissions on out-of-pocket medical spending, unpaid medical bills, bankruptcy, earnings, income (and its components), access to credit, and consumer borrowing. The results point to three primary conclusions: non-elderly adults with health insurance still face considerable exposure to uninsured earnings risk; a large share of the incremental risk exposure for uninsured non-elderly adults is borne by third parties who absorb their unpaid medical bills; the elderly face very little economic risk from adverse health shocks.
Keywords: hospital admissions; economic impacts; health insurance; bankruptcy; credit access
JEL Codes: D14; I10; I13
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| government transfers (H59) | earnings decline (J31) |
| hospital admissions (I19) | limitations in ability to work (J22) |
| hospital admissions (I19) | exit from full-time work (J26) |
| hospital admissions (I19) | out-of-pocket medical spending (H51) |
| hospital admissions (I19) | earnings (J31) |
| hospital admissions (I19) | unpaid medical bills (I13) |
| hospital admissions (I19) | bankruptcy rates (K35) |