Econ Papers Daily / 期刊论文
现金福利与健康支出
Cash Welfare and Health Spending
摘要
Abstract I explore the interplay between cash welfare and health-related outcomes using Canadian administrative data. Healthcare use rises sharply before a welfare application, especially for plausibly work-limiting diagnoses, then partially normalizes within three years. Using application adjudicators’ decisions as "judge IVs", I estimate that welfare receipt has limited effects on subsequent health-related outcomes. Because Canadian healthcare is free and universal, these findings are unrelated to health insurance. An exception is pharmaceuticals, which are free for welfare recipients but not for non-recipients — consistent with this, welfare receipt strongly increases pharmaceutical use, implying that incomplete insurance limits medication among those excluded from welfare.
中文摘要
我利用加拿大行政数据探讨了现金福利与健康相关结果之间的相互作用。在申请福利之前，医疗保健使用量急剧上升，尤其是对于可能限制工作的诊断，随后在三年内部分恢复正常。利用申请裁决者的决定作为“法官工具变量”，我估计福利领取对后续健康相关结果的影响有限。由于加拿大医疗保健免费且普及，这些发现与健康保险无关。一个例外是药品，福利领取者免费获得药品，而非领取者则不然——与此一致的是，福利领取显著增加了药品使用，这表明不完整的保险限制了被排除在福利之外者的用药。