TY  - JOUR
AU  - Bhattacharya,Jay
AU  - Goldman,Dana
AU  - Sood,Neeraj
TI  - The Link Between Public and Private Insurance and HIV-Related Mortality
JF  - National Bureau of Economic Research Working Paper Series
VL  - No. 9346
PY  - 2002
Y2  - November 2002
UR  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w9346
L1  - http://www.nber.org/papers/w9346.pdf
N1  - Author contact info:
Jay Bhattacharya
117 Encina Commons
Center for Primary Care
and Outcomes Research
Stanford University
Stanford, CA  94305-6019
Tel: 650/736-0404
Fax: 650/723-1919
E-Mail: jay@stanford.edu

Dana Goldman
Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics
University of Southern California
 3335 S. Figueroa St, Unit A
 Los Angeles, CA 90089-7273
Tel: (213) 821-7948
Fax: (213) 740-3460
E-Mail: dana.goldman@usc.edu

Neeraj Sood
Department of Clinical Pharmacy
USC School of Pharmacy
1985 Zonal Avenue
Los Angeles, CA 90033
Tel: 310/393-0411
Fax: 310/260-8156
E-Mail: nsood@usc.edu
AB  - As policymakers consider expanding insurance coverage for HIV+ individuals, it is useful to ask if insurance has any affect on health outcomes; and, if so, whether public insurance is as efficacious as private insurance in preventing premature deaths among HIV+ patients. Using data from a nationally representative cohort of HIV-infected persons receiving regular medical care, we estimate the impact of different types of insurance on mortality in this population. We find that ignoring observed and unobserved health status leads one to conclude (misleadingly) that insurance may not be protective for HIV patients. After accounting for observed and unobserved heterogeneity, insurance does protect against premature death, but private insurance is more effective than public coverage. The better outcomes associated with private insurance are attributable to the more restrictive prescription drug policies of Medicaid.
ER  -