A Leak in the Lifeboat: The effect of Medicaid managed care on the vitality of safety-net hospitals

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• 作者：Lindsey Woodworth
• 关键词：Managed care ; Medicaid ; Safety ; net hospitals
• 刊名：Journal of Regulatory Economics
• 出版年：2016
• 出版时间：December 2016
• 年：2016
• 卷：50
• 期：3
• 页码：251-270
• 全文大小：
• 刊物类别：Business and Economics
• 刊物主题：Industrial Organization; Public Finance; Microeconomics;
• 出版者：Springer US
• ISSN：1573-0468
• 卷排序：50

文摘

States are increasingly adopting Medicaid managed care in efforts to address budgetary concerns. The intent is that by releasing Medicaid oversight to private organizations, competition will drive down healthcare expenditures so that savings may be passed to the state. Yet there are concerns that this competitive solution to cost savings might compromise safety-net hospitals. Managed care organizations cut costs by restricting the providers that enrollees are allowed to see. If movement in Medicaid patients disrupts safety-net hospitals’ casemix, this could affect their ability to cross-subsidize care. This study estimates the impact of Medicaid managed care on safety-net hospitals by exploiting a Florida pilot program that required Medicaid recipients in five counties to enroll in managed care. The results suggest this mandate led to a small reduction in safety-net hospitals’ average ratio of payment-to-cost. There is also some evidence that the effect on safety-net hospitals was disproportionate. This disproportionality was such that hospitals nearest the margin were pushed the furthest towards the edge.