Determinants of Inpatient Mental Health Use in a Heavily Insured Population
利用1979-1981年蓝十字蓝盾联邦健康福利计划数据，估计住院精神健康服务需求模型，发现门诊共付额和免赔额增加会减少住院和门诊精神健康服务使用，且收入弹性为负，精神健康服务提供者相对可及性与需求正相关。
This paper estimates a model of the demand for hospital inpatient mental health services. It uses data on enrollees who were in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association Federal Health Benefits Plan from 1979 to 1981. The econometric analysis focuses on the impact of increased copayments and deductibles in the highoption plan. The results provide evidence that increases in outpatient copayments and deductibles reduce the utilization of both inpatient and outpatient mental health services. Of interest is the negative income elasticity of demand for hospital inpatient services and the positive association between the relative availability of mental health providers and the demand for mental health care.