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

Michael R. Richards (), Joachim Marti, Johanna Catherine Maclean, Jason Fletcher and Donald Kenkel
Additional contact information
Michael R. Richards: Department of Health Policy, Vanderbilt University
Joachim Marti: Centre for Health Policy, Imperial College London
Johanna Catherine Maclean: Department of Economics, Temple University, NBER, and IZA

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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Journal Article: Tobacco Control, Medicaid Coverage, and the Demand for Smoking Cessation Drugs (2017)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ucp:amjhec:v:3:y:2017:i:4:p:528-549

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