Medicaid Expansion and the Unemployed

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Buchmueller, Thomas C.; Levy, Helen; Valletta, Robert G.
• 署名单位: University of Michigan System; University of Michigan; Federal Reserve System - USA; Federal Reserve Bank - San Francisco
• 刊物名称: JOURNAL OF LABOR ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 0734-306X
• DOI: 10.1086/712478
• 发表日期: 2021
• 页码: S575-S617
• 关键词: affordable care act; health-insurance coverage; job loss; benefits; EMPLOYMENT; duration; impacts; access; adults; work

摘要

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.