Tobacco Control, Medicaid Coverage, and the Demand for Smoking Cessation Drugs

Michael R. Richards (), Joachim Marti, Johanna Maclean, Jason Fletcher and Donald Kenkel
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Michael R. Richards: Department of Health Policy, Vanderbilt University
Joachim Marti: Centre for Health Policy, Imperial College London

American Journal of Health Economics, 2017, vol. 3, issue 4, 528-549

Abstract: To date, there has been limited research on what drives demand for smoking cessation products, especially pharmaceutical interventions. In this study, we use the near-universe of smoking cessation pharmaceutical prescriptions (1999–2012) to estimate the demand response to several anti-smoking policies (cigarette taxes, smoking bans, and Medicaid benefits). Our differences-in-differences estimates suggest an increase of 20 prescriptions per 10,000 persons following the introduction of Medicaid coverage, while taxes and bans demonstrate a less clear impact at the state level. Consumers appear sensitive to out-of-pocket cessation medication costs, which has relevance to recent Affordable Care Act insurance expansions and coverage regulations.

Keywords: smoking; smoking cessation medication; health insurance; Medicaid; anti-smoking policy (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: H2 H4 I1 I3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2017
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Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:tpr:amjhec:v:3:y:2017:i:4:p:528-549

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