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Full-Text Articles in Social and Behavioral Sciences

Mental Health Is Wealth Too: Did The Affordable Care Act Medicaid Expansion Improve Mental Health Outcomes?, Dereck Wang Jun 2022

Mental Health Is Wealth Too: Did The Affordable Care Act Medicaid Expansion Improve Mental Health Outcomes?, Dereck Wang

Honors Theses

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has greatly exacerbated mental health, which has long been a growing problem in the United States; poor mental health not only jeopardizes the well-being of Americans but also has severe implications for America’s economy. Not only do mental health conditions have significant costs of treatment, but the absenteeism, presenteeism, early retirement, and mortality stemming from poor mental health also severely impact productivity. One health policy that could alleviate this problem is Medicaid expansion. The Affordable Care Act gave states the choice to expand Medicaid eligibility for individuals with incomes up to 138% of the federal poverty …


The Effects Of Recreational Marijuana Dispensaries On Local Opioid Mortality, Patrick Morrison Jun 2022

The Effects Of Recreational Marijuana Dispensaries On Local Opioid Mortality, Patrick Morrison

Honors Theses

This study examines how recreational marijuana dispensaries in Colorado affect opioid mortality at the county level. Using a difference-in-difference model with county and year fixed effects, I estimate the impact of recreational marijuana dispensary access on fatal opioid overdoses. Additionally, I employ distance from a major roadway and border as two instrumental variables to help limit the endogeneity associated with the location of dispensaries. Previous studies have shown that medical and recreational marijuana dispensary access decreases opioid mortality at the state level. Still, no study has explored the connection between recreational marijuana dispensaries and overdoses at the county level. Using …


How Did Medicaid Expansion Affect The Provider Labor Market?, Aaron Wu Jun 2020

How Did Medicaid Expansion Affect The Provider Labor Market?, Aaron Wu

Honors Theses

One provision of the Affordable Care Act was to expand Medicaid eligibility for a greater number of low-income patients. The resulting increase in demand for care was largely explored, but the effect of the 2014 Medicaid expansion on the physician and advanced practitioner labor market has not been well researched by economists. Using pooled cross-sectional data from the 2010 – 2018 American Community Surveys, this paper examines whether the Medicaid expansion has caused notable changes in physician, physician assistant, and nurse practitioner hours, compensation, and overall employment. The literature shows that practices that employ nurse practitioners are far more likely …


The Impact Of State-Level Naloxone Access Policies On Opioid Related Mortality And Admissions, Brian Shorr Jun 2019

The Impact Of State-Level Naloxone Access Policies On Opioid Related Mortality And Admissions, Brian Shorr

Honors Theses

Opioids, both prescription painkillers and illegal drugs, were responsible for over 33,000 deaths in the United States during 2015. Naloxone treatment to combat opioid overdoses has been used in hospital settings for decades, and during recent years legislation has expanded training and distribution to first aid responders and high risk groups. Several studies have projected the efficacy of community-based opioid overdose prevention programs (OOPPs) and prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs), but few have examined state naloxone access policies. This paper investigates the impact of three state policies – non-patient specific prescriptions, third-party prescriptions, and layperson legal immunity when administering naloxone …


The Business Cycle And Health: An Analysis Of How Macroeconomic Conditions Impact Health Outcomes In The U.S., Talitha Kumaresan Mar 2019

The Business Cycle And Health: An Analysis Of How Macroeconomic Conditions Impact Health Outcomes In The U.S., Talitha Kumaresan

Honors Theses

The U.S. spends about twice as much per person on healthcare, yet the disease burden remains higher in the U.S. than in comparable countries (Sawyer and Cox 2018; Sawyer and Gonzales 2017). Although health status is perceived to be an outcome of individual decision making, the business cycle also affects health. While the effect of macroeconomic shocks on health outcomes has been studied extensively, results remain inconclusive. This analysis uses longitudinal data over 30 years and panel data models to examine the effect of macroeconomic conditions on obesity, diabetes, hypertension, depression, congestive heart failure, and heart attack or myocardial infarction. …


The Effect Of Aca Medicaid Expansion On People’S Retirement Decision, William Christopher Mar 2018

The Effect Of Aca Medicaid Expansion On People’S Retirement Decision, William Christopher

Honors Theses

As of January 2018, thirty-three states have adopted the Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansion. There is an emerging literature to study the effects of ACA Medicaid expansion on various outcomes, such as insurance coverage, health status, and labor supply. For example, a study from the Congressional Box Office projects that the U.S. labor supply will decrease 1.5-2% from 2017 to 2024 because of this expansion. In a recent paper, Ayyagari (2017) argues that because employer sponsored retiree benefits are declining and Medicaid coverage is expanding, retirement age will decrease by 3.6 to 7.2 months. In this paper, I use …


Weight And Wages: The Effect Of Changing Bmi Over Time, Gregory Geisel Jun 2017

Weight And Wages: The Effect Of Changing Bmi Over Time, Gregory Geisel

Honors Theses

Obesity in the United States has been growing at an alarming rate, driving up health care costs and also promoting a worsening wage penalty for overweight workers. This study explores the determinants of the wage penalty borne by overweight individuals. To investigate this phenomenon individual BMI history was obtained from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics for 1986-1999. Upon examination of the cross-sectional data from 1986, there was a wage penalty observed for males who were underweight and for females who were overweight. The analysis of panel data from 1986 and 1999 however showed that it is not the BMI …


Hospital Merger And Acquisition Effects On Healthcare Quality And Cost, Emily Su Jun 2017

Hospital Merger And Acquisition Effects On Healthcare Quality And Cost, Emily Su

Honors Theses

Healthcare is as much a business subject to market dynamics as it is a public service, with enormous sums of money and resources devoted to it. Since a person’s health is one of his or her most valuable assets, healthcare will always be in high demand, regardless of the price of medical goods and services. Considering healthcare’s nature as a necessary good and the irreplaceable importance of a medical facility to its service area, any changes in capacity or method of healthcare delivery may have profound effects on the dependent population. Situations in which a hospital merges with a healthcare …