Econ Papers Daily / 期刊论文
医院计费法规与财务福祉：来自加州公平定价法的证据
Hospital Billing Regulations and Financial Well-being: Evidence from California’s Fair Pricing Law
摘要
We examine the financial consequences of the 2007 California Fair Pricing Law, which places a price ceiling on hospital bills for financially vulnerable individuals. Using cross-sectional variation in exposure to the law, proxied by county-level uninsured rates, we estimate its impact on individual financial outcomes. We find that the law reduces the likelihood of incurring non-medical debt in collections and the number of non-medical accounts in collections. In addition, we find evidence that credit scores increased and suggestive evidence that the number of delinquent accounts decreased for individuals in more exposed counties. Our results suggest hospital billing regulations can improve targeted individuals’ financial outcomes.
中文摘要
我们研究了2007年加州公平定价法对财务脆弱人群医院账单设置价格上限所产生的财务后果。利用法律暴露程度的横截面差异，以县级未保险率作为代理指标，我们评估了该法律对个人财务结果的影响。研究发现，该法律降低了产生非医疗债务催收的可能性及非医疗催收账户的数量。此外，证据显示，在暴露程度更高的县，个人信用评分有所提升，且拖欠账户数量减少的迹象也较为明显。我们的结果表明，医院账单规定能够改善目标人群的财务状况。