Health Insurance Expansions and Providers’ Behavior: Evidence from Substance-Use- Disorder Treatment Providers
研究了美国各州通过物质使用障碍治疗平等覆盖法律后，治疗提供者如何调整行为，包括减少参与公共市场、减少价格折扣、增加服务量并降低治疗强度。
We examine how substance-use-disorder (SUD) treatment providers respond to private-insurance expansions induced by states’ equal coverage (parity) laws for SUD treatment vis-à-vis general health care services. Economic theory suggests that such laws will lead to changes in providers’ behaviors. We use data on licensed specialty SUD treatment providers in the United States between 1997 and 2010 in a differences-in-differences analysis. During this period, 12 states implemented laws that require equality in coverage for SUD treatment. Following the passage of a state parity law, we find that providers are less likely to participate in public markets, are less likely to offer price discounts to patients, and increase the quantity of health care provided. Further, we find evidence of decreases in treatment intensity following passage of a parity law and of heterogeneity in effects across ownership status.