We examine the effects of patient cost‐sharing on adolescents' healthcare utilization and out‐of‐pocket medical expenditures by exploiting the healthcare reform in South Korea that lowered the coinsurance rate for inpatient care from 20% to 5% for children under 16. We apply a difference‐in‐regression‐discontinuities design using administrative claims data. We find that the reform increased adolescents' inpatient care utilization. It also reduced out‐of‐pocket healthcare expenditures. This effect was larger among low‐income households, facilitating income redistribution. However, the lack of evidence on health improvements and household consumption spending responses suggests that generous patient cost‐sharing for adolescent healthcare may cause efficiency losses.

中文翻译：

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患者费用分摊对青少年医疗保健利用和财务风险保护的影响：来自韩国的证据

我们利用韩国的医疗改革，将 16 岁以下儿童住院护理的共同保险率从 20% 降低到 5%，研究了患者费用分摊对青少年医疗保健利用率和自付费用医疗支出的影响。使用行政索赔数据应用回归不连续性差异设计。我们发现改革增加了青少年住院治疗的利用率。它还减少了自付费用的医疗保健支出。这种效应在低收入家庭中更大，促进了收入再分配。然而，缺乏关于健康改善和家庭消费支出反应的证据表明，慷慨的患者分摊青少年医疗费用可能会导致效率损失。