COVID-19 Mortality Lower in Higher-Ranked Nursing Homes

Nursing home residents account for more than 35 percent of deaths from COVID-19 in the United States. NBER Research Associate William Evans and Christopher Cronin, both of the University of Notre Dame, report substantial differences across nursing homes in the mortality rate from the virus. Their new working paper (28012) finds that facilities that achieved a five-star rating from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reported substantially lower COVID-19 death rates than lower-ranked nursing homes. This differential was largely offset, however, by increased rates of non-COVID-19 mortality in highly ranked nursing homes. Evans describes these results in the video below. 

Two NBER working papers distributed this week investigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and policies associated with it. One analyzes how pandemic-related restrictions on elective medical procedures, including surgical abortions, affected visits to abortion clinics (28058). The other explores the impact of COVID-19 and associated lockdown policies on domestic violence in Los Angeles (28068).

More than 290 NBER working papers have presented pandemic-related research. These papers are open access and have been collected for easy reference. Like all NBER papers, they are circulated for discussion and comment, and have not been peer-reviewed. They may be viewed in reverse chronological order or by topic area.