Work

Medicaid Expansion and the Unemployed

Year: 2021

Type: article

Abstract: We examine how a key provision of the Affordable Care Act—the expansion of Medicaid eligibility—affected health insurance coverage, access to care, and labor market transitions of unemployed workers. Comparing trends in states that implemented the Medicaid expansion to those that did not, we find that the expansion substantially increased insurance coverage and improved access to health care among unemployed workers. We then test whether the expansion affected transitions from unemployment to employment or out of the labor force. We find no meaningful statistical evidence in support of moral hazard effects that reduce job finding or labor force attachment.

Source: Journal of Labor Economics

DOI: 10.1086/712478

Authors: Thomas C. Buchmueller, Helen Levy, Robert G. Valletta

Institutions: University of Michigan, National Bureau of Economic Research, Institute for Social Research, IZA - Institute of Labor Economics, Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco

Language: English

Topic: Healthcare Policy and Management

Subfield: Economics and Econometrics

Field: Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Domain: Social Sciences

SDGs: Decent work and economic growth, No poverty, Reduced inequalities, Good health and well-being

Open Access status: green

Funder: Sage Foundation