The Effect of Prescription Drug Coverage on Mortality: Evidence from Medicaid Implementation

Denise Hammock Clayton

Journal of Health Economics, 2019, vol. 63, issue C, 100-113

Abstract: This paper estimates the effect of Medicaid prescription drug spending on mortality. I use the group- and state-specific roll out of Medicaid drug coverage to isolate plausibly exogenous variation in drug expenditures. I find that a $1 increase in Medicaid drug expenditures per resident reduces mortality from internal causes by 2.0 deaths per hundred thousand, a decline of 0.23%. I find relatively large effects for: (1) medically-treated diseases which pose an immediate risk of death, (2) impoverished areas which received a disproportionate share of state Medicaid dollars, and (3) areas with a high ratio of medical to surgical physicians.

Keywords: Prescription Drugs; Health Insurance; Medicaid (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:63:y:2019:i:c:p:100-113

DOI: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2018.10.003

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