Current high-risk pools insure around 190,000 high-risk individuals at a total cost of around $9,400 per enrollee. Expanding high risk pools so they insure a total of one million individuals would necessitate raising an additional $7.6 billion in revenue through premiums, allocations on...

This paper considers the use of an inheritance tax and payout restrictions to fund guarantees on a multi-pillar pension plan. A simulation model for a guaranteed multi-pillar benefit based on a pension plan similar to the old Chilean pension system reveals that the delivery of an economically...

This empirical paper, conducted with survey data on working age adults from the 2006 Medical Expenditures Panel (MEPS), assesses the determinants of office-based doctor visits and emergency room visits. Office-based doctor services are a “normal good” which increase in demand with income...

This paper considers the impact of population aging on tax competition among states. The analysis presented here suggests that fiscal impacts associated with tax competition will be substantially larger once the baby boom generation retires

Four factors suggest that population aging will have a larger fiscal impact in states with a high reliance on income taxes than in states with a high reliance on other taxes. First, as postulated by life-cycle consumption models, retirement has a larger impact on income than consumption. This...

The current economic environment is dominated by two major concerns: (1) a large increase in the number of homeowners with negative equity in their house, and (2) a large and sharp increase in the unemployment rate. Individuals with negative equity are often unable to sell their home, recoup the...

The debate over bankruptcy law is generally thought of as a conflict between the rights of debtors and creditors. However, the U.S. government is now providing direct financial aid to financial institutions and to homeowners. Several potential revisions to the bankruptcy code could help...

Many policy makers and economists support changes to the U.S. tax code to stimulate decreased reliance on employer sponsored insurance. However, the tax code is not the only law impacting the availability and price of group and non-group health insurance. Outcomes from a health care reform...

This paper examines how diabetes and complications from diabetes affect the impact of age on the probability a person nearing retirement age remains employed. The results presented here indicate that diabetics, especially those with complications tend to leave the workforce prior to 62 and...

State exchange health insurance markets created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) in the United States allow people with pre-existing conditions access to health insurance. However, tax and insurance rules favoring employer-based insurance over state exchange insurance create incentives leading...