This paper studies the life cycle consumption-investment-insurance problem of a family. The wage earner faces the risk of a health shock that significantly increases his probability of dying. The family can buy term life insurance with realistic features. In particular, the available contracts...

In the early 2000s, Arizona, Maine, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, and Vermont expanded Medicaid to cover more low-income individuals, primarily childless adults. This change provides the researcher with an opportunity to analyze the effects of these expansions on labor supply and welfare...

Despite plausible mechanisms, little research has evaluated potential changes in health behaviors as a result of the Medicaid expansions of the 1980s and 1990s. In this paper, we provide the first national study of the effects of Medicaid on health behaviors for pregnant women, which is a group...

This paper examines the impact of health insurance expansion on medical liability costs using the case of the Affordable Care Act's (ACA) Medicaid expansion. Medicaid expansion has increased the demand for medical services, but in doing so it may also have increased physicians' liability in...

During each annual election period, from November 15 to December 31, individuals enrolled in valid Medicare prescription drug plans (PDPs) can switch to another plan. Those who are eligible for Medicare Part D but are not enrolled can also register. The number of PDPs available increased 31...

A primary purpose of health insurance is to protect families from medical expenditure risk. Despite this goal and despite the fact that research has found that Medicaid can crowd out private coverage, little is known about the effect of Medicaid on families' spending patterns. This paper...

Low-income children are less likely to receive recommended health services than their high-income counterparts. This paper examines whether the design of parental Medicaid benefit packages could serve as a mechanism for reducing income-based disparities in unmet health care needs, considering...

This EBRI Notes article examines the amount of savings Medicare beneficiaries are projected to need to cover program premiums, deductibles, and certain other health expenses in retirement. More specifically, for the purposes of this study, the health expenses for which savings are accumulated...

In this article, I estimate the effect of the Medicaid expansions that occurred under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) on mortality. The ACA enabled states to expand Medicaid eligibility to all low-income, non-elderly adults. As a result, a significant proportion of...

In 2005, Missouri and Tennessee tightened eligibility for their public health insurance programs, resulting in widespread coverage loss. Leveraging county-level variation in subsequent disenrollment, I show that voters in Tennessee punished the incumbent governor for the Medicaid cuts. In...