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Open Access Publications from the University of California

Scholarly Works (5 results)

  • Article
  • Peer Reviewed
UC Davis Previously Published Works (2017)

Objective

To evaluate the effects of state insurance mandates requiring insurance plans to cover Pap tests, the standard screening for cervical cancer that is recommended for nearly all adult women.

Data sources

Individual-level data on 600,000 women age 19-64 from the CDC's Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System.

Study design

Twenty-four states adopted state mandates requiring private insurers in the state to cover Pap tests from 1988 to 2000. We performed a difference-in-differences analysis comparing within-state changes in Pap test rates before and after adoption of a mandate, controlling for the associated changes in other states that did not adopt a mandate.

Principal findings

Difference-in-differences estimates indicated that the Pap test mandates significantly increased past 2-year cervical cancer screenings by 1.3 percentage points, with larger effects for Hispanic and non-Hispanic white women. These effects are plausibly concentrated among insured women.

Conclusions

Mandating more generous insurance coverage for even inexpensive, routine services with already high utilization rates such as Pap tests can significantly further increase utilization.
    Cover page: Effects of State Cervical Cancer Insurance Mandates on Pap Test Rates
    • Article
    On-Line Working Paper Series (2006)

    A large social science literature documents partnership rates and correlates of partnership among heterosexual individuals. This paper presents the first systematic empirical analysis of partnership, cohabitation, and official “domestic partner” registrations among self-identified gay men and lesbians using four independent, large, population based data sources, mostly in California. The data indicate that 30-45 percent of gay men are in a cohabiting partnership, while about 50-60 percent of lesbians are partnered. Across the four samples, white and highly educated gay men and lesbians are more likely to be partnered. We also find that almost half of partnered lesbians report being registered officially with the government, while fewer than a quarter of partnered gay men are registered. Of partnered gay men and lesbians, those who officially registered report longer relationship durations and are more likely to have ever been legally married. Overall, our results advance the literature on the determinants of household formation and provide the first estimates of factors associated with being officially registered in a same-sex domestic partnership.

      Cover page: Gay and Lesbian Partnership: Evidence from Multiple Surveys
      • Article
      • Peer Reviewed
      UC Santa Cruz Previously Published Works (2016)
      A substantial economics literature documents that tighter alcohol controls reduce alcohol-related harms, but far less is known about mechanisms. We use the universe of Canadian mortality records to document that Canada's Minimum Legal Drinking Age (MLDA) significantly reduces mortality rates of young men but has much smaller effects on women. Using drinking data that are far more detailed than in prior work, we document that the MLDA substantially reduces 'extreme' drinking among men but not women. Our results suggest that alcohol control efforts targeting young adults should focus on reducing extreme drinking behavior.
        Cover page: The Mechanisms of Alcohol Control
        • Article
        • Peer Reviewed
        UC Davis Previously Published Works (2021)
        Although colorectal cancer (CRC) screening is highly effective, screening rates lag far below recommended levels, particularly for low-income people. The Colorectal Cancer Control Program (CRCCP) funded $100 million in competitively awarded grants to 25 states from 2009-2015 to increase CRC screening rates among low-income, uninsured populations, in part by directly providing and paying for screening services. Using data from the 2001-2015 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and a difference-in-differences strategy, we find no effects of CRCCP on the use of relatively cheap fecal occult blood tests (FOBT). We do, however, find that the CRCCP significantly increased the likelihood that uninsured 50-64-year-olds report ever having a relatively expensive endoscopic CRC screening (sigmoidoscopy or colonoscopy) by 2.9 percentage points, or 10.7%. These effects are larger for women, minorities, and individuals who did not undertake other types of preventive care. We do not find that the CRCCP led to significant changes in CRC cancer detection. Our results indicate that the CRCCP was effective at increasing CRC screening rates among the most vulnerable.
          Cover page: Effects of the Colorectal Cancer Control Program
          • Article
          • Peer Reviewed
          UC Irvine Previously Published Works (2015)

          Objectives

          We examine whether state educational standards regarding tobacco correspond with teacher reports of classroom instruction.

          Methods

          We test this relation with data on tobacco use prevention standards, reports of middle and high school teachers from the 2008 and 2010 School Health Profiles study, and logistic regression models.

          Results

          State education standards are significantly related to increased likelihood of a lead health education teacher in that state reporting that the specific topic was taught in the school. These relationships are stronger for middle school teachers than for high school teachers.

          Conclusions

          Associations between state standards and teacher reports of actual instruction are consistent with education standards influencing the teaching of these health education topics.
            Cover page: State Education Standards for Tobacco Prevention and Classroom Instruction
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