University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, College of Business, 800 Algoma Blvd., Oshkosh, WI, 54901, United States.
University of South Carolina, Darla Moore School of Business, Economics Department, 1014 Greene Street, Columbia, SC, 29208, United States.
J Health Econ. 2020 May;71:102313. doi: 10.1016/j.jhealeco.2020.102313. Epub 2020 Apr 6.
This project uses quasi-random assignment of SNAP receipt dates linked to Medicaid healthcare records to examine whether ER use is affected by the timing of benefits. We find an increase in ER usage at the end of the benefit month, but only among older recipients. The estimated effect is much larger when the end of the benefit cycle coincides with the end of the calendar month, which is when other transfer payments are also depleted. This suggests that within this older group, increased food insecurity leads to increased ER utilization. Further, we find that the share of ER visitors that received SNAP benefits on the day of their ER visit is 3.1% lower than in the SNAP population. This is consistent with benefit receipt altering household behaviors and routines (notably, we observe, by increasing shopping), which may crowd out healthcare utilization. This particular effect is present across all age groups, although the magnitude is smallest for children.
本项目采用 SNAP 领取日期与医疗补助健康记录相关联的准随机分配，以检验 ER 使用是否受福利发放时间的影响。我们发现，在福利月份结束时，急诊室的使用量增加了，但仅在老年受助人中如此。当福利周期的结束与日历月的结束相吻合时，即其他转移支付也耗尽时，估计的效果要大得多。这表明，在这个老年群体中，粮食不安全程度的增加导致了急诊室利用率的增加。此外，我们发现，在急诊室就诊当天领取 SNAP 福利的急诊室访客比例比 SNAP 人群低 3.1%。这与福利领取改变家庭行为和日常生活习惯（值得注意的是，我们观察到，这会增加购物）的情况一致，这可能会挤占医疗保健的使用。这种特殊的影响存在于所有年龄组，但对儿童的影响最小。
