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Administrative Easing: Rule Reduction and Medicaid Enrollment
Author(s) -
Fox Ashley M.,
Stazyk Edmund C.,
Feng Wenhui
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
public administration review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.721
H-Index - 139
eISSN - 1540-6210
pISSN - 0033-3352
DOI - 10.1111/puar.13131
Subject(s) - medicaid , entitlement (fair division) , business , administration (probate law) , state (computer science) , actuarial science , public economics , political science , economics , economic growth , health care , mathematical economics , algorithm , computer science , law
Administrative burden is widely recognized as a barrier to program enrollment , denying legal entitlements to many potentially eligible individuals . Building on recent research in behavioral public administration , this article examines the effect of voluntary state reductions in administrative burden (administrative easing) on Medicaid enrollment rates using differential implementation of the Affordable Care Act . Using a novel data set that includes state‐level data on simplified enrollment and renewal procedures for Medicaid from 2008 to 2017 , the authors examine how change in Medicaid enrollment is conditioned by the adoption of rule‐reduction procedures . Findings show that reductions in the administrative burden required to sign up for Medicaid were associated with increased enrollments . Real‐time eligibility and reductions in enrollment burden were particularly impactful at increasing enrollment for both children and adults separate from increases in Medicaid income eligibility thresholds . The results suggest that efforts to ease the cognitive burden of enrolling in entitlement programs can improve take‐up .