The Great Equalizer: Health Care Access and Infant Mortality in Thailand

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Gruber, Jonathan; Hendren, Nathaniel; Townsend, Robert M.
• 署名单位: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Harvard University; National Bureau of Economic Research
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-APPLIED ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7782
• DOI: 10.1257/app.6.1.91
• 发表日期: 2014
• 页码: 91-107
• 关键词: child-mortality; insurance

摘要

This paper analyzes Thailand's 2001 healthcare reform, 30 Baht. The program increased funding available to hospitals to care for the poor and reduced copays to 30 Baht (similar to$0.75). Our estimates suggest the supply-side funding of the program increased healthcare utilization, especially among the poor. Moreover, we find significant impacts on infant mortality. Prior to 30 Baht, poorer provinces had significantly higher infant mortality rates than richer provinces. After 30 Baht, this correlation evaporates to zero. The results suggest that increased access to healthcare among the poor can significantly reduce their infant mortality rates.