Noninvasive prenatal screening tests help identify genetic disorders in a fetus, but their take-up remains low in several countries. Using a regression discontinuity design, we test the causal effect of a policy that eliminated co-payments for noninvasive screening tests in Italy. We identify the treatment effects by a discontinuity in women’s eligibility for a free test based on their conception date. We find that the policy increases the probability of women’s undergoing noninvasive screening tests by 5.5 percentage points, and the effect varies by socioeconomic status. We do not find evidence of substitution effects with more expensive and riskier invasive diagnostic tests. In addition, the increase in take-up does not affect pregnancy termination or newborn health. We find some evidence of positive effects on mothers’ health behaviors during pregnancy as measured by reductions in mothers’ weight gain and hospital admissions during pregnancy, but these are statistically significant only at the 10 percent level.
The Effect of Co-Payments on the Take-Up of Prenatal Tests
Marina Di Giacomo
;
2022-01-01
Abstract
Noninvasive prenatal screening tests help identify genetic disorders in a fetus, but their take-up remains low in several countries. Using a regression discontinuity design, we test the causal effect of a policy that eliminated co-payments for noninvasive screening tests in Italy. We identify the treatment effects by a discontinuity in women’s eligibility for a free test based on their conception date. We find that the policy increases the probability of women’s undergoing noninvasive screening tests by 5.5 percentage points, and the effect varies by socioeconomic status. We do not find evidence of substitution effects with more expensive and riskier invasive diagnostic tests. In addition, the increase in take-up does not affect pregnancy termination or newborn health. We find some evidence of positive effects on mothers’ health behaviors during pregnancy as measured by reductions in mothers’ weight gain and hospital admissions during pregnancy, but these are statistically significant only at the 10 percent level.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
---|---|---|---|
JHE_DPST_revised manuscript 2 -PostPrint.docx
Open Access dal 01/02/2024
Descrizione: Articolo finale dell'autore
Tipo di file:
POSTPRINT (VERSIONE FINALE DELL’AUTORE)
Dimensione
2.93 MB
Formato
Microsoft Word XML
|
2.93 MB | Microsoft Word XML | Visualizza/Apri |
1-s2.0-S0167629621001387-main.pdf
Accesso riservato
Descrizione: Versione Editoriale
Tipo di file:
PDF EDITORIALE
Dimensione
5.36 MB
Formato
Adobe PDF
|
5.36 MB | Adobe PDF | Visualizza/Apri Richiedi una copia |
I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.