American Economic Journal:
Economic Policy
ISSN 1945-7731 (Print) | ISSN 1945-774X (Online)
Public and Private Options in Practice: The Military Health System
American Economic Journal: Economic Policy
vol. 15,
no. 4, November 2023
(pp. 37–74)
Abstract
Recent debates over health care reform, including in the context of the Military Health System (MHS) and Veterans Administration, highlight the dispute between public and private provision of health care services. Using novel data on childbirth claims from the MHS and drawing on the combination of plausibly exogenous patient moves and heterogeneity across bases in the availability of base hospitals, we identify the impact of receiving obstetrical care on versus off military bases. We find evidence that off-base care is associated with slightly greater resource intensity, but also notably better outcomes, suggesting marginal efficiency gains from care privatization.Citation
Frakes, Michael D., Jonathan Gruber, and Timothy Justicz. 2023. "Public and Private Options in Practice: The Military Health System." American Economic Journal: Economic Policy, 15 (4): 37–74. DOI: 10.1257/pol.20210625Additional Materials
JEL Classification
- H51 National Government Expenditures and Health
- H56 National Security and War
- I11 Analysis of Health Care Markets
- I18 Health: Government Policy; Regulation; Public Health
- J13 Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
- L33 Comparison of Public and Private Enterprises and Nonprofit Institutions; Privatization; Contracting Out
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