Determinants of per Capita State-Level Health Expenditures in the United States: A Spatial Panel Approach

Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Forthcoming

37 Pages Posted: 21 Mar 2015

See all articles by Srimoyee Bose

Srimoyee Bose

Georgia State University; West Virginia University, Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources & Design, Students

Date Written: March 27, 2014

Abstract

The United States ranks second among the advanced nations of the world in per capita health care expenditures. However, there is wide variation in health care spending across states. This paper therefore focuses on exploring factors that influence the per capita outlays in health care across the United States between 2000 and 2009. A Spatial Durbin Panel Model is used to account for the possibility that the health care expenditures of any particular state may influence health care expenditure patterns in neighboring states in the same way. Results indicate that, apart from the presence of positive spatial dependence in health care spending across the states, variables such as a state’s gross domestic product (GDP), Medicaid expenditures, proportion of the population that is elderly, number of active physicians per 100,000 people, and poverty rate positively influence per capita state-level health expenditures. GDP (by state), proportion of population above age 65, and poverty rate negatively affect the neighboring states’ per capita health expenditures. Furthermore, the number of hospital beds per 1,000 people and number of hospitals per 1,000 people positively influence bordering states’ per capita health expenses.

Keywords: health care expenditures, Spatial Durbin Panel, Medicaid, hospital beds, state-level

Suggested Citation

Bose, Srimoyee, Determinants of per Capita State-Level Health Expenditures in the United States: A Spatial Panel Approach (March 27, 2014). Journal of Regional Analysis and Policy, Forthcoming, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2580483

Srimoyee Bose (Contact Author)

Georgia State University ( email )

35 Broad Street
Atlanta, GA 30303-3083
United States

West Virginia University, Davis College of Agriculture, Natural Resources & Design, Students ( email )

Morgantown, VA
United States

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