Economics

Program in Health Economics Publications 

Physician Group Influences on Treatment Intensity and Health: Evidence from Physician Switchers

Joseph J. Doyle Jr.
Rebecca Staiger
2024

Treatment intensity varies remarkably across physicians, yet key drivers of this variation are not well understood. Meanwhile, physicians are increasingly working in groups that may influence how they practice. This paper tests whether physicians' group affiliation matters for practice styles and patient health. Using Medicare inpatient claims data, we compare these outcomes before and after physicians switch between groups of varying treatment intensity while remaining in the same hospital to control for practice setting. Event studies show that internists who join groups with higher...

Disruptions to the Patient-Provider Relationship and Patient Utilization and Outcomes: Evidence from Medicaid Managed Care

Rebecca Staiger
2022

The patient-provider relationship is considered a cornerstone to delivering high-value healthcare. However, in Medicaid managed care settings, disruptions to this relationship are disproportionately common. In this paper, I evaluate the impact of a primary provider’s exit from a Medicaid managed care plan on adult beneficiary healthcare utilization and outcomes. Using an event study approach, I estimate a 5% decrease in the number of beneficiaries with primary care visits in the year following the exit, with slightly larger effects in terms of percentage points for...

The effect of Medicaid expansion on the take-up of disability benefits by race and ethnicity

Rebecca Staiger
Madeline Helfer
Jessica Van Parys
2023

Public disability programs provide financial support to 12 million working-age individuals per year, though not all eligible individuals take up these programs. Mixed evidence exists regarding the impact of Medicaid eligibility expansion on program take-up, and even less is known about the relationship between Medicaid expansion and racial and ethnic disparities in take-up. Using 2009–2020 Current Population Survey data, we compare changes in Supplemental Security Income (SSI) and Social Security Disability Insurance (SSDI) take-up among respondents with disabilities living in...