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Spillover between Medicare and Medicaid: Evidence from decreasing physician reimbursements

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  • Kole Reddig

Abstract

This paper studies the effect of large changes in Medicaid reimbursement rates on the quantity of care supplied to Medicare beneficiaries. In 2015, the payment parity provision of the Affordable Care Act ended, causing widespread decreases in reimbursements to primary care providers for Medicaid services. Difference‐in‐differences and triple‐differences model estimates show that decreasing physician payments for Medicaid caused a small increase in the number of services provided to Medicare beneficiaries. I explore the mechanisms driving this result, giving context and insight into some current puzzles regarding the effects of the ACA's Medicaid expansion.

Suggested Citation

  • Kole Reddig, 2024. "Spillover between Medicare and Medicaid: Evidence from decreasing physician reimbursements," Contemporary Economic Policy, Western Economic Association International, vol. 42(2), pages 223-236, April.
    • Handle: RePEc:bla:coecpo:v:42:y:2024:i:2:p:223-236
    DOI: 10.1111/coep.12639
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Kevin Callison & Marisa Carlos & Barton Willage, 2025. "Spillovers From Medicaid Contraceptive Use to Non‐Medicaid Patients: Evidence From New York," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 34(5), pages 821-826, May.
    2. Silvia De Nicol`o & Beatrice Biondi & Mario Mazzocchi, 2026. "Three's a crowd: Identification challenges in the triple difference model with spillover effects," Papers 2601.15764, arXiv.org.

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