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The impact of early discharge laws on the health of newborns

Author

Listed:
  • Evans, William N.
  • Garthwaite, Craig
  • Wei, Heng

Abstract

Using an interrupted time series design and a census of births in California over a 6-year period, we show that state and federal laws passed in the late 1990s designed to increase the length of postpartum hospital stays reduced considerably the fraction of newborns that were discharged early. The law had little impact on re-admission rates for privately insured, vaginally delivered newborns, but reduced re-admission rates for privately insured c-section-delivered and Medicaid-insured vaginally delivered newborns by statistically significant amounts. Our calculations suggest the program was not cost saving.

Suggested Citation

  • Evans, William N. & Garthwaite, Craig & Wei, Heng, 2008. "The impact of early discharge laws on the health of newborns," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(4), pages 843-870, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:eee:jhecon:v:27:y:2008:i:4:p:843-870
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Angrist, Joshua D, 2001. "Estimations of Limited Dependent Variable Models with Dummy Endogenous Regressors: Simple Strategies for Empirical Practice," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 19(1), pages 2-16, January.
    2. William N. Evans & Wallace E. Oates & Robert M. Schwab & William N. Evans & Wallace E. Oates & Robert M. Schwab, 2004. "Measuring Peer Group Effects: A Study of Teenage Behavior," Chapters, in: Environmental Policy and Fiscal Federalism, chapter 13, pages 232-257, Edward Elgar Publishing.
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    4. Liu, Zhimei & Dow, William H. & Norton, Edward C., 2004. "Effect of drive-through delivery laws on postpartum length of stay and hospital charges," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 23(1), pages 129-155, January.
    5. Matthew C. Farrelly & William N. Evans & Edward Montgomery, 1999. "Do Workplace Smoking Bans Reduce Smoking?," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 89(4), pages 728-747, September.
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    7. Duggan, Mark, 2004. "Does contracting out increase the efficiency of government programs? Evidence from Medicaid HMOs," Journal of Public Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(12), pages 2549-2572, December.
    8. Angrist, Joshua D, 2001. "Estimations of Limited Dependent Variable Models with Dummy Endogenous Regressors: Simple Strategies for Empirical Practice: Reply," Journal of Business & Economic Statistics, American Statistical Association, vol. 19(1), pages 27-28, January.
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    Cited by:

    1. Hope Corman & Dhaval Dave & Nancy E. Reichman, 2018. "Evolution of the Infant Health Production Function," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 85(1), pages 6-47, July.
    2. William N. Evans & Craig Garthwaite, 2012. "Estimating Heterogeneity in the Benefits of Medical Treatment Intensity," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 94(3), pages 635-649, August.
    3. Douglas Almond & Joseph J. Doyle, 2011. "After Midnight: A Regression Discontinuity Design in Length of Postpartum Hospital Stays," American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, American Economic Association, vol. 3(3), pages 1-34, August.
    4. repec:kap:iaecre:v:16:y:2010:i:4:p:395-409 is not listed on IDEAS
    5. Calogero Guccio & Domenico Lisi & Giacomo Pignataro, 2016. "Readmission and Hospital Quality under Different Payment Regimes," FinanzArchiv: Public Finance Analysis, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, vol. 72(4), pages 453-474, December.
    6. Guccio, Calogero & Lisi, Domenico & Pignataro, Giacomo, 2014. "Readmission and Hospital Quality under Prospective Payment System," MPRA Paper 56490, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    7. Asuka Imaizumi & Kaori Ito & Tetsuji Okazaki, 2008. "Impact of Natural Disasters on Industrial Agglomeration: A Case of the 1923 Great Kanto Earthquake," CIRJE F-Series CIRJE-F-602, CIRJE, Faculty of Economics, University of Tokyo.
    8. Laudicella, Mauro & Li Donni, Paolo & Smith, Peter C., 2013. "Hospital readmission rates: Signal of failure or success?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 32(5), pages 909-921.
    9. Attila Cseh & Brandon Koford, 2010. "The Impact of Maternity Minimum Stay Mandates on Hospitalizations: An Extension," International Advances in Economic Research, Springer;International Atlantic Economic Society, vol. 16(4), pages 395-409, November.
    10. Mindy Marks & Kate Choi, 2011. "Baby Boomlets and Baby Health: Hospital Crowdedness, Treatment Intensity, and Infant Health," Working Papers 201440, University of California at Riverside, Department of Economics.
    11. Hummy Song & Elena Andreyeva & Guy David, 2022. "Time Is the Wisest Counselor of All: The Value of Provider–Patient Engagement Length in Home Healthcare," Management Science, INFORMS, vol. 68(1), pages 420-441, January.

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