Working Paper: NBER ID: w29765
Authors: David C. Chan Jr.; David Card; Lowell Taylor
Abstract: We study public vs. private provision of health care for veterans aged 65 and older who may receive care provided by the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) and in private hospitals financed by Medicare. Utilizing the ambulance design of Doyle et al. (2015), we find that the VA reduces 28-day mortality by 46% (4.5 percentage points) and that these survival gains are persistent. The VA also reduces 28-day spending by 21% and delivers strikingly different reported services relative to private hospitals. We find suggestive evidence of complementarities between continuity of care, health IT, and integrated care.
Keywords: Veterans Affairs; Health Care; Dually Eligible Veterans; Emergency Care; Health Outcomes
JEL Codes: H4; H51; I10; I18
Edges that are evidenced by causal inference methods are in orange, and the rest are in light blue.
| Cause | Effect |
|---|---|
| Receiving care at the VA (I19) | 28-day mortality (C41) |
| Receiving care at the VA (I19) | 28-day spending (H72) |
| 28-day mortality (C41) | 28-day spending (H72) |
| Receiving care at the VA (I19) | Health outcomes (I14) |
| IV estimates of the VA effect (C26) | OLS estimates (L00) |