The effect of the affordable care act Medicaid expansions on financial wellbeing

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Hu, Luojia; Kaestner, Robert; Mazumder, Bhashkar; Miller, Sarah; Wong, Ashley
• 署名单位: Federal Reserve System - USA; Federal Reserve Bank - Chicago; University of Illinois System; University of Illinois Chicago; University of Illinois Chicago Hospital; University of Michigan System; University of Michigan; Northwestern University
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF PUBLIC ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0047-2727
• DOI: 10.1016/j.jpubeco.2018.04.009
• 发表日期: 2018
• 页码: 99-112
• 关键词: Health insurance; consumer finance; public policy

摘要

We examine the effect of the Medicaid expansions under the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) on consumer financial outcomes using data from a major credit reporting agency for a large, national sample of adults. We employ the synthetic control method to compare individuals living in states that expanded Medicaid to those that did not. We find that the Medicaid expansions significantly reduced the number of unpaid bills and the amount of debt sent to third-party collection agencies among those residing in zip codes with the highest share of low-income, uninsured individuals. Our estimates imply a reduction in collection balances of approximately $1140 among those who gain Medicaid coverage due to the ACA. Our findings suggest that the ACA Medicaid expansions had important financial impacts beyond increasing health care use. (C) 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.