After Midnight: A Regression Discontinuity Design in Length of Postpartum Hospital Stays

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Almond, Douglas; Doyle, Joseph J., Jr.
• 署名单位: Columbia University; National Bureau of Economic Research; Columbia University; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); National Bureau of Economic Research; Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-ECONOMIC POLICY
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7731
• DOI: 10.1257/pol.3.3.1
• 发表日期: 2011
• 页码: 1-34
• 关键词: early discharge; health-insurance; follow-up; IMPACT; legislation; mortality; care; california; infant; birth

摘要

Estimates of moral hazard in health insurance markets can be confounded by adverse selection. This paper considers a plausibly exogenous source of variation in insurance coverage for childbirth in California. We find that additional health insurance coverage induces substantial extensions in length of hospital stay for mother and newborn. However, remaining in the hospital longer has no effect on readmissions or mortality, and the estimates are precise. Our results suggest that for uncomplicated births, minimum insurance mandates incur substantial costs without detectable health benefits. (JEL D82, G22, I12, I18, J13)