Working Paper: NBER ID: w22542
Authors: Diane Alexander; Janet Currie
Abstract: There is continuing controversy about the extent to which publicly insured children are treated differently than privately insured children, and whether differences in treatment matter. We show that on average, hospitals are less likely to admit publicly insured children than privately insured children who present at the ER and the gap grows during high flu weeks, when hospital beds are in high demand. This pattern is present even after controlling for detailed diagnostic categories and hospital fixed effects, but does not appear to have any effect on measurable health outcomes such as repeat ER visits and future hospitalizations. Hence, our results raise the possibility that instead of too few publicly insured children being admitted during high flu weeks, there are too many publicly and privately insured children being admitted most of the time.
Keywords: No keywords provided
JEL Codes: I13
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Insurance type (G52) | Hospitalization rates (I11) |
| High flu intensity (E32) | Admission rates for publicly insured children (I13) |
| Hospital resources constrained (I11) | Differential treatment based on insurance type (G52) |
| Hospitalization rates (I11) | Measurable health outcomes (I14) |
| Excess admissions (I19) | Overall hospital admissions during ample capacity (I19) |