Work

Effects of the Medicaid coverage cliff on low‐income elderly Medicare beneficiaries

Year: 2024

Type: article

Abstract: The Medicaid coverage "cliff" occurs when Medicare beneficiaries with household income exceeding 100% of the federal poverty level lose eligibility for supplemental Medicaid coverage. Using a regression discontinuity design with data from Medical Expenditure Panel Survey and National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey for 2007-2019, we demonstrate that the cliff increases out-of-pocket spending by 25% and the probability of experiencing problems paying medical bills by 44.4% without decreases in overall health care spending. However, there is evidence that near-poor Medicare beneficiaries changed behavior in response to the cliff, increasing the use of high-value diagnostic and preventive testing by 8.8% and enrollment in a more affordable plan by 12.2%. The cliff does not encourage healthy behavior.

Source: Health Economics

DOI: 10.1002/hec.4902

Authors: Kanghyock Koh, Sungchul Park

Institution: Korea University

Language: English

Topic: Healthcare Policy and Management

Subfield: Economics and Econometrics

Field: Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Good health and well-being, No poverty, Reduced inequalities

Open Access status: bronze

Funders: National Research Foundation, Ministry of Education, National Research Foundation of Korea