Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/180462 
Year of Publication: 
2018
Series/Report no.: 
IZA Discussion Papers No. 11444
Publisher: 
Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), Bonn
Abstract: 
Expanding insurance coverage could, by insulating patients from having to pay full cost, encourage the utilization of arguably unnecessary medical services. It could also eliminate (or at least diminish) the need for emergency services through increasing access to preventive care. Using publicly available data from New York City for the period 2013-2016, we explore the effect of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) on the volume and composition of ambulance dispatches. Consistent with the argument that expanding insurance coverage encourages the utilization of unnecessary medical services, we find that, as compared to dispatches for more severe injuries, dispatches for minor injuries rose sharply after the implementation of the ACA. By contrast, dispatches for pre-labor pregnancy complications decreased as compared to dispatches for women in labor.
Subjects: 
Affordable Care Act
ambulance
emergency medical service
health insurance
moral hazard
JEL: 
I11
I13
I18
Document Type: 
Working Paper

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