Can amputation save the hospital? The impact of the Medicare Rural Flexibility Program on demand and welfare

Gautam Gowrisankaran, Claudio Lucarelli, Philipp Schmidt-Dengler, Robert Town

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper seeks to understand the impact of the Medicare Rural Hospital Flexibility (Flex) Program on hospital choice and consumer welfare for rural residents. The Flex Program created a new class of hospital, the Critical Access Hospital (CAH), which receives more generous Medicare reimbursements in return for limits on capacity and length of stay. We find that conversion to CAH status resulted in a 4.7 percent drop in inpatient admissions to participating hospitals, almost all of which was driven by factors other than capacity constraints. The Flex Program increased consumer welfare if it prevented the exit of at least 6.5 percent of randomly selected converting hospitals.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)110-122
Number of pages13
JournalJournal of Health Economics
Volume58
DOIs
StatePublished - Mar 2018

Keywords

  • Hospital choice
  • Medicare
  • Patient welfare

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Health Policy
  • Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Can amputation save the hospital? The impact of the Medicare Rural Flexibility Program on demand and welfare'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this