Universal cash transfers and prescription utilization: Evidence from the Alaska permanent fund dividend.

We investigate the impact of a large cash transfer on prescription utilization. Our identification strategy leverages the Alaksa Permanent Fund Dividend (PFD), which is distributed annually in October and comprises 6% of the average household's annual income. We study the impact of the PFD on the use of prescription medications using a within-Alaska comparison group and difference-in-differences design.

Prenatal Substance Use Policies And Infant Maltreatment Reports.

We studied the effect of state punitive and supportive prenatal substance use policies on reports of infant maltreatment to child protection agencies. Punitive policies criminalize prenatal substance use or define it as child maltreatment, whereas supportive policies provide pregnant women with priority access to substance use disorder treatment programs. Using difference-in-differences methods, we found that total infant maltreatment reports increased by 19.

Prenatal substance use policies and newborn health.

We study the effect of punitive and priority treatment policies relating to illicit substance use during pregnancy on the rate of neonatal drug withdrawal syndrome, low birth weight, low gestational age, and prenatal care use. Punitive policies criminalize prenatal substance use, or define prenatal substance exposure as child maltreatment in child welfare statutes or as grounds for termination of parental rights. Priority treatment policies are supportive and grant pregnant women priority access to substance use disorder treatment programs.

Marijuana liberalization policies and perinatal health.

We studied the effect of marijuana liberalization policies on perinatal health with a multiperiod difference-in-differences estimator that exploited variation in effective dates of medical marijuana laws (MML) and recreational marijuana laws (RML). We found that the proportion of maternal hospitalizations with marijuana use disorder increased by 23% (0.3 percentage points) in the first three years after RML implementation, with larger effects in states authorizing commercial sales of marijuana.

Medical marijuana laws are associated with increases in substance use treatment admissions by pregnant women.

Background And Aims: Between 2002 and 2014, past-month marijuana use among pregnant women in the United States increased 62%, nearly twice the growth of the general population. This growth coincides with the proliferation of state medical marijuana laws (MMLs) authorizing physicians to recommend marijuana for approved conditions. We estimated the association between MMLs and substance use treatment utilization among pregnant and non-pregnant women of reproductive age.

Impact of Financial Incentives on Service Use, Spending, and Health in Medicaid.

Introduction: The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services provided grants to Medicaid programs through the Medicaid Incentives for Prevention of Chronic Diseases program to test whether financial incentives changed the use of healthcare services, Medicaid spending, and health outcomes. Six states implemented programs related to diabetes prevention, weight management, diabetes management, and hypertension management. The purpose of this study is to examine whether receipt of financial incentives increased use of services incentivized by the program; reduced expenditures, inpatient admissions, emergency department visits; and improved health outcomes.

Comparison group selection in the presence of rolling entry for health services research: Rolling entry matching.

Objective: To demonstrate rolling entry matching (REM), a new statistical method, for comparison group selection in the context of staggered nonuniform participant entry in nonrandomized interventions.

Study Setting: Four Health Care Innovation Award (HCIA) interventions between 2012 and 2016.

Study Design: Center for Medicare and Medicaid Innovation HCIA participants entering these interventions over time were matched with nonparticipants who exhibited a similar pattern of health care use and expenditures during each participant's baseline period.

The role of health insurance on treatment for opioid use disorders: Evidence from the Affordable Care Act Medicaid expansion.

We estimate the effect of health insurance coverage on opioid use disorder treatment utilization and availability by exploiting cross-state variation in effective dates of Medicaid expansions under the Affordable Care Act. Using a difference-in-differences design, we find that aggregate opioid admissions to specialty treatment facilities increased 18% in expansion states, most of which involved outpatient medication-assisted treatment (MAT). Opioid admissions from Medicaid beneficiaries increased 113% without crowding out admissions from individuals with other health insurance.

Medicaid Incentives for Preventing Chronic Disease: Effects of Financial Incentives for Smoking Cessation.

Objective: To test the effectiveness of financial incentives for smoking cessation in the Medicaid population.

Data Sources: Secondary data from the Medicaid Incentives for Prevention of Chronic Disease (MIPCD) program and Medicaid claims/encounter data from 2010 to 2015 for five states.

Study Design: Beneficiaries were randomized into receipt or no receipt of financial incentives.

Public health insurance and disparate eligibility of spouses: The Medicare eligibility gap.

I exploit the age-based eligibility structure of Medicare and the age gap between spouses to examine the impact of Medicare eligibility of an older spouse on the insurance coverage of younger, Medicare-ineligible spouses. Using a regression discontinuity framework, I find that Medicare eligibility of an older spouse can crowd-out the health insurance coverage of a younger spouse. Medicare eligibility of older wives increases the likelihood that younger husbands are uninsured.