Title：Pay More for Less: Effect of Cost Sharing Reduction on Healthcare Utilization and Expenditure

　　　Schedule: Oct 27, TH 1:30-3:00 PM

　　　Location: 诚明楼 RM 317

　　　Abstract：How to design cost sharing policies to achieve cost control without compromising the quality of care? We leverage a pilot insurance program in China that reduced drug cost sharing for two chronic diseases - hypertension and diabetes. Exploiting a unique administrative medical dataset, we find the program-targeted patients increased the use of primary care, sharply reduced the use of inpatient care, and had a substantial reduction in total medical expenditure compared to patients with comparable chronic conditions. In particular, patients with the highest prior health risks were most responsive in all three dimensions. Two channels explain these changes. First, program-targeted patients had more regular outpatient visits and better drug adherence, and experienced health improvement as reflected in the large reduction in the frequency of inpatient admissions and the probability of readmission. Second, information and salience of the program matters, as reflected in the large increase in outpatient care for nontargeted diseases. This information and salience channel can explain half of program’s total impact on the reduction in inpatient admissions and medical expenditure. Overall, the program’s targeted reduction of drug cost sharing achieved substantial health improvement and large saving of medical expenditure. Our findings have important policy implications on the value-based insurance design.

　　　Introduction：石菊, 北京大学经济学院副教授, 她的多篇研究论文发表于国际顶级/知名期刊，如Journal of Public Economics , Journal of Health Economics, American Journal of Health Economics, Journal of Comparative Economics, Health Economics ，并承担了国家自科和省部级课题研究。

　　　　石菊教授本科毕业于清华大学，博士毕业于美国波士顿大学，曾任哈佛大学担任博士后研究员。