The Impact of Financial Assistance Programs on Health Care Utilization: Evidence from Kaiser Permanente
American Economic Review: Insights
vol. 4,
no. 3, September 2022
(pp. 389-407)
Abstract
Most hospitals have financial assistance programs for low-income patients. We use administrative data from Kaiser Permanente to study the effects of financial assistance on health care utilization. Using a regression discontinuity design based on an income threshold for program eligibility, we find that financial assistance increases the likelihood of inpatient, ambulatory, and emergency department encounters by 3.6 pp (59 percent), 13.4 pp (20 percent), and 6.7 pp (53 percent), respectively, though effects dissipate three quarters after program receipt. Financial assistance also increases the detection and management of treatment-sensitive conditions (e.g., drugs treating diabetes), suggesting that financial assistance may increase receipt of high-value care.Citation
Adams, Alyce, Raymond Kluender, Neale Mahoney, Jinglin Wang, Francis Wong, and Wesley Yin. 2022. "The Impact of Financial Assistance Programs on Health Care Utilization: Evidence from Kaiser Permanente." American Economic Review: Insights, 4 (3): 389-407. DOI: 10.1257/aeri.20210515Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- G51 Household Finance: Household Saving, Borrowing, Debt, and Wealth
- I11 Analysis of Health Care Markets
- I12 Health Behavior
- I13 Health Insurance, Public and Private
- I32 Measurement and Analysis of Poverty