• AEA in the news
  • March 21, 2018

The New York Times features AER paper on hospitalizations

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The New York Times featured a paper that appeared in the February issue of the American Economic Review about the economic consequences of hospital admissions. Researchers Carlos Dobkin, Amy Finkelstein, Raymond Kluender, and Matthew Notowidigdo found that a hospital admission could have severe negative consequences for a person whether or not they were insured. For adults in their 50s with health coverage, hospitalization led to increased out-of-pocket medical spending, unpaid medical bills, and bankruptcy, while reducing earnings, income, access to credit, and consumer borrowing. The impact on uninsured adults was even more significant.