The DOI matches its Crossref record; 38 of the 40 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Does Medicare Save Lives? *
Open accessAbstract
Health insurance characteristics shift at age 65 as most people become eligible for Medicare. We measure the impacts of these changes on patients who are admitted to hospitals through emergency departments for conditions with similar admission rates on weekdays and weekends. The age profiles of admissions and comorbidities for these patients are smooth at age 65, suggesting that the severity of illness is similar on either side of the Medicare threshold. In contrast, the number of procedures performed in hospitals and total list charges exhibit small but statistically significant discontinuities, implying that patients over 65 receive more services. We estimate a nearly 1-percentage-point drop in 7-day mortality for patients at age 65, equivalent to a 20% reduction in deaths for this severely ill patient group. The mortality gap persists for at least 9 months after admission.
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“Specifically the period from 1940 to 1955 was also one in which the use of antibiotics in the treatment of infectious disease emerged and grew in clinical medicine”
From Social security and mortality: The role of income support policies and population health in the United States (2011) · cites this paper as [40]
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“the period 1971 to 1985 saw the growth of Medicare and improvement in the treatment and prevention of life-threatening chronic diseases, especially heart disease.”
From Social security and mortality: The role of income support policies and population health in the United States (2011) · cites this paper as [40]
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Flagged first, then by citations
2 of the 40 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.
Research works printed but not linked: 1
- Cutler David McClellan Mark Newhouse Joseph Triplett JE The Costs and Benefits of Intensive Treatment for Cardiovascular Disease Measuring the Prices of Medical Treatments Washington, DC Brookings Institution Press 1999
Cited by
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The Oregon Health Insurance Experiment: Evidence from the First Year*
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Why Do the Elderly Save? The Role of Medical Expenses
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Metadata
- Authors
- Card, D., Dobkin, C., & Maestas, N.
- Affiliations
- University of California, Berkeley (US)
- University of California, Santa Cruz (US)
- RAND Corporation (US)
- Venue
- Quarterly Journal of Economics
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2009-05
- Volume
- 124
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 597-636
- ISSN
- 0033-5533 (ISSN-L)
- 1531-4650
- PMC
- PMC2777733
- OpenAlex
- W2145644832
- Cited by
- 494
- References
- 40
- Citations by year
- 2026: 17 · 2025: 17 · 2024: 28 · 2023: 29 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 40 · 2020: 33 · 2019: 33 · 2018: 21 · 2017: 37 · 2016: 39 · 2015: 38 · 2014: 36 · 2013: 28 · 2012: 28
- FWCI
- 48.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- The Quarterly Journal of Economics (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- Funders
- National Institute on Aging (R01AG026290, R03AG025155)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Economics, Econometrics and Finance › Economics and Econometrics › Healthcare Policy and Management
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Emergency Medicine › Emergency and Acute Care Studies
- Health Sciences › Nursing › Leadership and Management › Hospital Admissions and Outcomes
- Keywords
- Medicare, health insurance coverage, emergency department admission, hospital discharge, mortality, older adults, comorbidities, hospital procedures, life expectancy
- MeSH terms
- Aged, Medicare, Humans, Middle Aged, Mortality, United States
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