Can Amputation Save the Hospital? The Impact of the Medicare Rural Flexibility Program on Demand and Welfare
研究了医疗保险农村医院灵活性计划如何影响农村居民的就医选择和福利，发现转为关键准入医院后住院量下降4.7%，若防止至少6.5%的医院关闭则福利增加。
This paper seeks to understand the impact of the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program on hospital choice and consumer welfare for rural residents. The Flex Program created a new class of hospital, the Critical Access Hospital (CAH), which receives more generous Medicare reimbursements in return for limits on capacity and length of stay. We find that conversion to CAH status resulted in a 4.7 percent drop in inpatient admissions to participating hospitals, almost all of which was driven by factors other than capacity constraints. The Flex Program increased consumer welfare if it prevented the exit of at least 6.5 percent of randomly selected converting hospitals.