Impacts on Emergency Department Visits from Personal Responsibility Provisions: Evidence from West Virginia's Medicaid Redesign.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

To examine the impact of a 2007 redesign of West Virginia's Medicaid program, which included an incentive and "nudging" scheme intended to encourage better health care behaviors and reduce Emergency Department (ED) visits.

Data sources

West Virginia Medicaid enrollment and claims data from 2005 to 2010.

Study design

We utilized a "differences in differences" technique with individual and time fixed effects to assess the impact of redesign on ED visits. Starting in 2007, categorically eligible Medicaid beneficiaries were moved from traditional Medicaid to the new Mountain Health Choices (MHC) Program on a rolling basis, approximating a natural experiment. Members chose between a Basic plan, which was less generous than traditional Medicaid, or an Enhanced pla

SUBMITTER: Gurley-Calvez T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4946032 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature