Dependent insurance coverage and parental job lock: Evidence from the Affordable Care Act

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Bae, Hannah; Meckel, Katherine; Shi, Maggie
• 署名单位: Stanford University; University of California System; University of California San Diego; Leibniz Association; Ifo Institut; National Bureau of Economic Research; University of Chicago
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2025.105439
• 发表日期: 2025
• 关键词: Health insurance; Dependent coverage; Job lock

摘要

Coverage for dependents is a standard feature of employer-sponsored insurance. While prior work shows that employees trade off job mobility for their own coverage, less is known about the intra-family spillovers of dependent coverage on parental labor supply. We study this question using a large panel of employer-based insurance claims that links dependent enrollment to a proxy for parental job retention. We use a regression discontinuity design that exploits a sharp change in the duration of dependent eligibility by birth month under the Affordable Care Act. We find that additional dependent insurance eligibility increases both dependent take-up and parental job retention. This job lock effect is strongest among parents more likely to be on the margin of a job exit, for families that place higher value on dependent coverage, and employees of firms offering a broader range of insurance options.