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  4. May 2021
  5. Hurricane Maria and La Crisis Boricua on Health-Care Supply in Puerto Rico

Hurricane Maria and La Crisis Boricua on Health-Care Supply in Puerto Rico

  • Jose M. Fernandez
AEA Papers and Proceedings
vol. 111, May 2021
(pp. 598-601)
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Abstract

Many medical professionals left Puerto Rico due to the financial crisis. Puerto Rico passed Act 14 in April 2017 to mitigate the exodus of physicians, reducing the flat tax on medical services to 4 percent. The same year, Puerto Rico was devastated by a Category 4 hurricane, leaving the island without power for several months. A difference-in-difference model is used to estimate the net effects of the hurricane and Act 14 on the number of health-care providers. The number of health-care providers decreased by 6.5 percent, family physicians by 17.5 percent, and specialists by 8 percent.

Citation

Fernandez, Jose M. 2021. "Hurricane Maria and La Crisis Boricua on Health-Care Supply in Puerto Rico." AEA Papers and Proceedings, 111: 598-601. DOI: 10.1257/pandp.20211116

Additional Materials

JEL Classification

  • I11 Analysis of Health Care Markets
  • Q54 Climate; Natural Disasters and Their Management; Global Warming
  • J44 Professional Labor Markets; Occupational Licensing
  • J61 Geographic Labor Mobility; Immigrant Workers
  • I18 Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
  • J22 Time Allocation and Labor Supply