Health Economics

Social safety nets ARE public health interventions 🛡️. New research shows expanding cash transfers to low-income seniors in South Korea significantly lowered suicide rates among the most vulnerable older adults 👴📉. Read full paper here: doi.org/10.1002/hec.70169

A new Health Economics study of Medicare PCPs shows switching from solo to large group practice cuts opioid prescribing by 10% and drug overlap by 19%. However, practicing in older peer groups increases prescribing intensity. Read full paper here: doi.org/10.1002/hec.70163

🏠 Expanding support for sick retirees reduces household labor losses, but policy success is restricted by limited home and community care services, according to a new Health Economics study tracking US adults. Read full paper here: doi.org/10.1002/hec.70165

🦷 Expanding Medicaid dental benefits boosts patient visits by 50%, but policy success is restricted by local dentist availability, according to a new Health Economics study tracking West Virginia adults. Read full paper here: doi.org/10.1002/hec.70161

🏥 Fixing maternal health means looking beyond the delivery room. In Texas, 78% of the Black-White gap in severe birth complications stems from health status before hospital arrival, not the provider or facility used. Read full paper here: doi.org/10.1002/hec.70158

🏥 Supply restrictions and regulatory costs lead states in the U.S. to spend more on healthcare unless Certificate-of-Need laws are repealed, according to a new Health Economics study. Read full paper here: doi.org/10.1002/hec.70160

🩸 Do symbolic medals encourage blood donations? A new Health Economics study tracking 72k+ donors over 12 years shows membership-based medals boost donation frequency by 10%, while donation-only quotas fail. Read the full paper here: doi.org/10.1002/hec.70159

🧠 Feeling out of sync with your government? A new Health Economics study shows that greater ideological distance from the party in power lowers life satisfaction and increases depression risks. Read full paper here: doi.org/10.1002/hec.70157

🩺 Evaluating a medical treatment's real-world value is tough. A new Health Economics tutorial shows how machine learning models (BART & suBART) make cost-effectiveness studies fairer and more accurate. Read full paper here: doi.org/10.1002/hec.70153

👶 Experience and travel costs lead mothers in India to use hospital care less for higher-order births unless past complications occurred, according to a new Health Economics study. Read full paper here: doi.org/10.1002/hec.70154

🇺🇸 Having health insurance doesn’t always mean healthcare is affordable. A new Health Economics study found that 84.2% of people reporting affordability problems in 2022 were already insured. Read full paper here: doi.org/10.1002/hec.70151Dig…

🔁 Short-term wins, long-term issues. A new Health Economics editorial shows focusing only on immediate clubfoot results misses critical dropouts and full recovery. doi.org/10.1002/hec.70152

🇳🇱 Higher retirement age, zero health penalty. A new Health Economics study shows pushing back the Dutch pension age increased employment without raising mortality risks. doi.org/10.1002/hec.70149

🚭 Tobacco 21 did more than curb smoking. A new Health Economics study finds these laws reduced obesity among 18- to 20-year-olds by 2.1 percentage points, with gains concentrated among never-smokers and no sign of the usual weight-gain tradeoff. tinyurl.com/pjrcn6wd

🏥 Are standard hospitalization rates telling the wrong story? A new Health Economics paper shows common measures can misweigh patients and even penalize hospitals for treating sicker case mixes, then offers cleaner alternatives. tinyurl.com/mryhzf7e

💬 What happens when unemployment benefits are cut off earlier than expected? A new Health Economics study finds anxiety rose among working-age adults without a college degree, especially among minorities, older adults, and women. tinyurl.com/mtsu5rpp

💶 Do patients actually value physicians who charge above the regulated fee? A new Health Economics study in France finds they do: WTP was €4.30 higher for unregulated specialists, linked to perceived quality and easier appointments. tinyurl.com/4e8h66we

🧠 Can teacher quality protect student mental health? A new study finds that each additional year of head teacher experience improved junior high students’ mental health in China, with especially strong gains for low-SES and rural students. tinyurl.com/yckxhvtb

🍎 Economic policy is now firmly in the nutrition toolkit. A new Health Economics perspective charts the rise of SSB taxes, asks why trade policy still lags, and argues research must now push innovation, equity, and gender. tinyurl.com/3fmbafv2

💸 Same transfer, different timing, different diet. A new study finds monthly cash payments improved diet quality for low-income older adults in Colombia, while bi-monthly payments led to fewer fruit and vegetable purchases and more UPFs. tinyurl.com/4kbh46bk