Are Medicaid and Medicare Patients Treated Equally?

Ackley, Calvin; Dunn, Abe; Liebman, Eli; Shapiro, Adam Hale

doi:10.24148/wp2024-14

Working Paper

Are Medicaid and Medicare Patients Treated Equally?

Abstract: We examine whether Medicaid recipients receive the same health care services as those on Medicare. We track the services provided to the same individual as they age into Medicare from Medicaid at age 65. Cost sharing remains negligible across the insurance switch, implying that changes in care utilization reflects supply-side factors. Utilization increases by about 20 percent upon switching to Medicare. We find that 60 to 90 percent of the increase in office visits is explained by physicians averse to accepting Medicaid patients. This analysis provides new evidence that Medicaid’s smaller provider network plays a large role in limiting utilization.

JEL Classification: I13; I14;

https://doi.org/10.24148/wp2024-14