The medical assistance system and inpatient health care provision: Empirical evidence from short-term hospitalizations in Japan.

ABSTRACT: This paper uses two nationally representative sets of medical claims data from medical assistance and universal public health insurance systems to examine how medical assistance system assignment affects short-term inpatient health care provision. In Japan, the medical assistance system, which is part of a public assistance system, provides medical care services for its beneficiaries without imposing any financial burdens, such as copayments or advance premium payments. These circumstances can lead to inpatient costs, as physicians may provide more treatments because there is a financial incentive. Because the assignment of public assistance in Japan is not random but is subject to means testing by the local government, I employ the instrumental variable model to control the potential corr

SUBMITTER: Yuda M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6171890 | biostudies-literature | 2018

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature