Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-2006
Abstract
A model of addiction in which individuals are forward looking implies that as the availability of addiction treatment options grows, individuals will consume more of an addictive good. We test this implication using cross-state variation in the adoption of mental health parity mandates that include substance abuse treatments. We examine the effects of these mandates on the consumption of alcohol and find that parity legislation leads to an increase in alcohol consumption. To account for the possible endogeneity of the adoption of mental health parity mandates, we perform an instrumental variables analysis and find that the ordinary least squares estimation significantly underestimates the insurance effect on alcohol consumption.
Keywords
Health Economics, Legislation, Substance Abuse
Publication Title
Journal of Legal Studies
Repository Citation
Klick, Jonathan and Stratmann, Thomas, "Subsidizing Addiction: Do State Health Insurance Mandates Increase Alcohol Consumption?" (2006). All Faculty Scholarship. 1121.
https://scholarship.law.upenn.edu/faculty_scholarship/1121
Included in
Health Economics Commons, Health Law and Policy Commons, Health Policy Commons, Law and Economics Commons, Law and Society Commons, Legislation Commons, Medicine and Health Commons, Mental Disorders Commons, Public Health Commons, Substance Abuse and Addiction Commons
Publication Citation
35 J. Legal Stud. 175 (2006).