Abstract
Empirical evidence from New Jersey supports theories of hospital altruism. From 1987 to 1992, New Jersey reimbursed hospitals for uncompensated care through the Uncompensated Care Trust Fund. The Trust Fund reduced the shadow price of charity care, inducing hospitals to increase their provision of uncompensated care. Hospitals increased inpatient uncompensated care by an average of 14.8% and statewide uncompensated care increased by $360 million during 1987-1990. Empirical evidence suggests that the state effectively addressed the moral hazard problem created by the Trust Fund by auditing uncompensated care and regulating hospital collection procedures.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 397-416 |
Number of pages | 20 |
Journal | Journal of health economics |
Volume | 16 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Aug 1997 |
Externally published | Yes |
Keywords
- Altruism
- Collection effort
- Hospital subsidy
- Moral hazard
- Uncompensated care
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Health Policy
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health