Our Work

Insurance exists to protect enrollees against their financial exposure to catastrophically high-cost low-probability events. Indeed, health insurance began as sickness funds, where workers made weekly contributions to a fund that would temporarily provide a reduced wage to those too ill to work.

We study the effects of changing Medicaid reimbursement rates for primary care services on behavioral health outcomes—defined here as mental illness and substance use disorders.

The United States faces an ongoing drug crisis, worsened by the undertreatment of substance use disorders (SUDs). Family enrollment in high deductible health plans (HDHPs) and the resulting increased cost exposure could exacerbate the undertreatment of SUD. This study characterized the distribution of health care spending within families where a member has a SUD and estimated the association between HDHPs and family health care spending.