iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 08/10/2026

Payment policy can reshape the health care workforce. Just accepted! A federal mandate requiring Medicaid reimbursement of nurse-midwives increased midwife-attended births by 69% and expanded care into previously unserved areas. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/744122 #HealthEconomics #Medicaid

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 24/09/2026

Just accepted! How much did people value getting the COVID-19 vaccine sooner? A new study finds median WTP for earlier vaccination was $50, or 2% of the value implied by standard estimates of the associated mortality-risk reduction. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/743891 #EconSky #PublicHealth

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 18/09/2026

Just accepted! What happens to younger siblings when an older sibling reaches the legal drinking age? Using Finnish data, Böckerman, Haapanen & Jepsen find higher mortality and hospitalization risks among younger siblings. Link to paper: www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/744090 #HealthEconomics

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 17/09/2026

What are the long-run health effects of abortion legalization? @hamidnb.bsky.social, Vu & @jasonmfletcher.bsky.social find cohorts in utero under legalized abortion regimes had 4.5% lower adult mortality and sizable reductions in disability. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/744083 #EconSky

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 06/09/2026

Just accepted! Abortion restrictions don't affect all communities equally. They cut abortion rates up to twice as much in counties with large Black or Hispanic populations as in mostly White ones, and effects vary by geography and age. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/743166 #EconSky

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 28/08/2026

Accepted at AJHE! When one partner is hospitalized, family income falls sharply, and the healthy partner absorbs the biggest loss. However, each new pharmaceutical treatment for that disease cuts income losses 1.7% offsetting 10–15% of the shock. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/743585 #EconSky

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Just accepted! Ending Donation Service Areas widened organ sharing and improved transplant-system metrics, but transplant-amenable deaths, many never on a wait list, rose an est. 200–300/mo in rural and lower-income areas. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/743342 #HealthPolicy #HealthEconomics

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Opioids and the ballot box. What your time zone does to your sleep. AJHE Summer 2026 issue is live: 7 papers, 4 of them on mental health, from circadian misalignment to parents' "middle school blues." www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/ajhe/2026/12/3 #HealthEconomics #HealthPolicy #MentalHealth #EconSky

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 17/07/2026

For 40 years health care share of GDP rose almost every year. Since 2009, it's been slower. Smith & Newhouse argue that it is a lasting bend rather than a pause. The Economist read it as good news on ageing. www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2026/07/09/an-ageing-society-might-not-cost-too-much

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 10/07/2026

New paper! Bratti et al. study whether COVID-19 reshaped firms’ hiring toward work-from-home-suitable jobs in Italy. Harder-hit areas saw an increase in WFH hires, especially permanent contracts, but the effect was short-lived. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/742272 #WorkFromHome #HealthEcon

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 07/07/2026

Do health differences reflect where people live or who lives there? Economists use movers to separate the two. But movers vary in overlooked ways, explaining 18–49% of Medicare spending & 19–77% of hospitalization differences. Fixed effects don't fix it. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/733366

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 19/06/2026

New paper! Good vision is essential for learning. Evidence shows that targeted follow-up after failed vision screenings can connect more students to eye care, addressing a common but often overlooked barrier to academic success. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/734326 #HumanCapital #ChildHealth

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 05/06/2026

New! Using Japanese long-term care (LTC) data & RD design, Iizuka & Sugawara find higher care-level certification raises preventive LTC spending but doesn't improve future care needs, health, or later costs, raising questions about preventive LTC design. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/742369

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 29/05/2026

In Print! Can clean water in early life shape longevity decades later? Using water filtration programs in 25 cities, @hamidnb.bsky.social & @jasonmfletcher.bsky.social find that childhood exposure to filtered water increased male longevity by 3 months. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/734081

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 15/05/2026

New! Gehrsitz & Williams examine effects of education on health. Exploiting a raising of school age (ROSLA) reform, they find that education reduces hospitalizations. Health improvements are strongest for life-style related conditions and among men. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10.1086/741687

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

New! @nicolesiegal.bsky.social examines the relationship between early exposure to the opioid epidemic and US voting behavior. State policies tied to greater opioid exposure were followed by lasting shifts in presidential voting toward the GOP. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/epdf/10.1086/742007

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

🏆 Congratulations to David Zimmer @wkuhilltoppers.bsky.social, winner of the 2025 American Journal of Health Economics Referee of the Year Award. The award recognizes a reviewer whose reports have been exceptionally insightful, comprehensive, and timely. Thank you for the invaluable service to AJHE!

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 28/04/2026

And... the Best Paper Award goes to "The Effect of Hospital Maternity Ward Closures on Maternal and Infant Health" by Emily Battaglia (www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/727738)! Wards close, C-sections fall for low-risk moms -- babies just as healthy still.

journals.uchicago.edu

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 22/04/2026

The latest issue of American Journal of Health Economics (AJHE) is now available on the University of Chicago Press Journals website! journals.uchicago.edu/toc/ajhe/cur...

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 15/04/2026

New! Price transparency was meant to lower costs. In a large NY RCT, it instead raised charges ~1% (driven by lower-priced providers with few out-of-network patients) with no change in patient behavior -- likely helping providers benchmark, not consumers shop. journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 11/04/2026

New paper! @mikepesko.bsky.social & @rachelylfung.bsky.social find no meaningful evidence that e-cigs crowd out NRT sales, cessation prescriptions, quitline calls,or smoking quit attempts, suggesting e-cigs reach smokers not interested in quitting otherwise. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 03/04/2026

New paper by @basucally.bsky.social! How much of a drug's social value should go to innovators? 100% maximizes long-run welfare, but less if society prioritizes consumer surplus—especially when small countries can free-ride on others' R&D. #DrugPricing www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

journals.uchicago.edu

DYNAMIC EFFICIENCY AND PRICING OF PHARMACEUTICAL INNOVATIONS | American Journal of Health Economics: Vol 0, No ja

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

The worldwide rise in health care’s share of GDP slowed after 2009 in the US and across 19 OECD countries. A key factor in this slowdown is a declining contribution from technological change, implying a substantial bending of the healthcare spending curve. journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/73

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 31/03/2026

conversableeconomist.com/2026/03/27/bending-the-curve-of-health-care-costs-at-last/ "Bending the curve” of healthcare costs is back in the conversation. What’s driving it? Timothy Taylor discusses recent work by Cutler&Klarnet on the US and a new AJHE paper by Smith&Newhouse on international trends:

conversableeconomist.com

Bending the Curve of Health Care Costs (At Last?) - Conversable Economist

Health care spending had been a rising share of US GDP for decades, but since about 2010, the rate of increase seemed to level out. David M. Cutler and Lev Klarnet address "Has the United States bent ...

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 30/03/2026

New paper! Expanding public insurance to parents benefits parents and generates spillovers to children, improving their health care utilization. The estimates highlight intergenerational effects relevant for welfare analysis. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/733364 @michellemmarcus.bsky.social

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 18/03/2026

New paper! State reinsurance programs cut ACA Marketplace premiums but didn't boost net enrollment. They helped unsubsidized consumers while raising costs for subsidized ones — mostly a transfer to insurers without fundamental changes to the Marketplaces. www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/733523

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 06/03/2026

International recognition for AJHE! The Australian Business Deans Council Journal Quality List has upgraded AJHE from A to A*. It reflects sustained improvements in quality and impact. Huge credit to @davidslusky.bsky.social and Australia and NZ–based economists, led by Jenny Williams (Melbourne).

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ajhejournal.bsky.social @ajhejournal.bsky.social · 05/03/2026

New AJHE paper: Among Arkansas Medicaid beneficiaries enrolled in private plans, narrower provider networks reduced in-network PCP and specialist visits. Patients shifted to out-of-network care, especially for specialists, but overall PCP use still fell. 🔗 www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/10.1086/...

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