In 2009, Medicaid spent over $75 billion on 5.3 million elderly beneficiaries. This article describes the Medicaid rules for the elderly and discusses their economic implications.

Using data from the Asset and Health Dynamics of the Oldest Old survey, the authors find that the assets of people who die decline much faster than the assets of people who survive, even after controlling for age, sex, and initial asset levels. Out-of-pocket medical expenses right before death...

Consumers’ expected income growth declined significantly during the Great Recession. It was the most severe drop ever observed in these data, and expectations have not yet fully recovered. Furthermore, this article shows that expected income growth is a strong predictor of actual future income...

In 2009, Medicaid spent over $75 billion on 5.3 million elderly beneficiaries. This article describes the Medicaid rules for the elderly and discusses their economic implications.

Consumers’ expected income growth declined significantly during the Great Recession. It was the most severe drop ever observed in these data, and expectations have not yet fully recovered. Furthermore, this article shows that expected income growth is a strong predictor of actual future income...

Using data the Health and Retirement Survey and the Assets and Health Dynamics among the Oldest Old, this article provides an empirical analysis of the determinants of whether an individual purchases health insurance. The authors describe the relationship between health costs and health care...

This article presents estimates of the effect of the run-up in the stock market on labor supply. The authors find that, in the absence of a run-up in the stock market, aggregate labor force participation rates would have been about 1 percent higher than they are today.

This article presents evidence on the extent to which households run down their assets after retirement. The authors show that, once corrections are made for several econometric problems, households engage in very little asset decumulation after retirement.

The authors provide evidence that households run down their assets after retirement by tracking a group of elderly households over the 1996–2004 period. They find that assets decline for these households approaching the end of the life cycle. Had there not been a run-up in asset prices due in...