Volume 21, Number 3 (Summer) 1986
Scheffler, Richard M., and Carolyn A. Watts. 1986. "Determinants of Inpatient Mental Health Use in a Heavily Insured Population." Journal of Human Resources 21(3):338-358.
This paper estimates a model of the demand for hospital inpatient mental health services. It uses data on enrollees who were in the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association Federal Health Benefits Plan from 1979 to 1981. The econometric analysis focuses on the impact of increased copayments and deductibles in the high-option plan. The results provide evidence that increases in outpatient copayments and deductibles reduce the utilization of both inpatient and outpatient mental health services. Of interest is the negative income elasticity of demand for hospital inpatient services and the positive association between the relative availability of mental health providers and the demand for mental health care.
Scheffler is a professor of health economics and public policy at the schools of Public Health and Public Policy at the University of California, Berkeley. Watts is an associate professor of health services and economics at the University of Washington. The authors gratefully acknowledge the thoughtful comments of reviewers Randall P. Ellis and Robert Seidman, and the substantial contributions of Allen Cheadle, Randolph Hill, Thomas Rundall, Nicholas Jewell, Howard Goldman, and Deborah Haas-Wilson. This study was supported by NIMH grant number MH 37313.
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