Impact of expanding SSI on Medicaid expenditures of disabled children.
Supplemental Security Income (SSI) expansions for disabled children in the early 1990s provoked criticism that eligibility criteria were too lax and motivated the subsequent retraction of benefits for many children. However, little evidence exists on whether the clinical needs of SSI children declined during this period. The authors used Medicaid data to examine changes in average expenditures between 1989 and 1992, using an Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) comparison group to control for confounding time trends (e.g., in access). Results showed declines in average expenditures in Georgia and Tennessee but increases in California and Michigan, which are thought to have started with more liberal eligibility policies.
Ettner
S L
SL
UCLA School of Medicine, USA. settner@mednet.ucla.edu
Kuhlthau
K
K
McLaughlin
T J
TJ
Perrin
J M
JM
Gortmaker
S L
SL
D000293:Adolescent; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D019988:Children with Disabilities / Q000145:classification*; D004608:Eligibility Determination / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D005260:Female; D005102:Health Expenditures / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D006302:Health Services Research; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D008484:Medicaid / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011203:Poverty; D012943:Social Security / Q000331:legislation & jurisprudence*; D014481:United States