Do Free Care Pools Affect Access for the Uninsured. Lessons from Massachusetts.Executive Summary and Final Report

摘要

The authors examined the impact of an uncompensated care revenue pool adopted inMassachusetts in 1985. They employed a pre-post design using Maryland as a concurrent control in the years 1984 and 1987. In Massachusetts, the admission rate deficit was not statistically significant. The effect of the pool was more prominent for discretionary admissions. The deficits in average length of stay decreased in both states during the study period. The data on use of procedures did not suggest an independent effect of the pool. Their findings suggest that establishment of an uncompensated care pool for hospitals in Massachusetts was associated with increased hospital admissions for uninsured persons compared to their concurrent control.