The Effect of the Health Insurance Mandate on Labor Market Activity and Time Allocation: Evidence from the Federal Dependent Coverage Provision

Q3 Economics, Econometrics and Finance

Forum for Health Economics and Policy Pub Date : 2017-05-11 DOI:10.1515/fhep-2016-0006

Otto Lenhart, Vinish Shrestha

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引用次数: 9

Abstract

Abstract The primary goal of the federal dependent coverage mandate was to increase health insurance coverage among young adults, the group with the lowest prevalence of health insurance coverage. To understand the full impacts of the federal dependent coverage mandate, it is important to evaluate how the mandate affects labor market activities and time spent away from work among young adults. Using data from the Consumer Population Survey (CPS) and the American Time Use Survey (ATUS) and implementing a difference-in-differences framework, we find: (1) Young adults substitute employer sponsored insurance for dependent coverage, (2) Affected individuals reduce their work time and switch from full- to part-time employment, and (3) The additional time from reduced labor market activity is reallocated towards more time spent on leisure activities, mainly watching television. The effects of the mandate on labor market activities are stronger in later years. Furthermore, we show that young adults do not increase the time they spend on activities that could enhance their human capital such as education and health, which reemphasizes potential unintended consequences of the mandate. These findings suggest that future work is necessary to fully understand the overall welfare effects of the policy.

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健康保险授权对劳动力市场活动和时间分配的影响:来自联邦依赖保险条款的证据

联邦依赖保险授权的主要目标是增加年轻人的健康保险覆盖率，这是健康保险覆盖率最低的群体。要了解联邦依赖保险强制令的全面影响，重要的是要评估强制令如何影响劳动力市场活动和年轻人离开工作的时间。利用消费者人口调查(CPS)和美国时间使用调查(ATUS)的数据，并实施差异中的差异框架，我们发现:(1)年轻人用雇主赞助的保险代替了被抚养人的保险;(2)受影响的个人减少了工作时间，从全职工作转向兼职工作;(3)劳动力市场活动减少的额外时间被重新分配到更多的休闲活动上，主要是看电视。该指令对劳动力市场活动的影响在以后几年会更强。此外，我们表明，年轻人并没有增加他们在教育和卫生等可增强其人力资本的活动上花费的时间，这再次强调了任务可能带来的意想不到的后果。这些发现表明，未来的工作是必要的，以充分了解该政策的整体福利效应。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Forum for Health Economics and Policy Economics, Econometrics and Finance-Economics, Econometrics and Finance (miscellaneous)

CiteScore

1.60

自引率

0.00%

发文量

期刊介绍： Forum for Health Economics & Policy (FHEP) showcases articles in key substantive areas that lie at the intersection of health economics and health policy. The journal uses an innovative structure of forums to promote discourse on the most pressing and timely subjects in health economics and health policy, such as biomedical research and the economy, and aging and medical care costs. Forums are chosen by the Editorial Board to reflect topics where additional research is needed by economists and where the field is advancing rapidly. The journal is edited by Katherine Baicker, David Cutler and Alan Garber of Harvard University, Jay Bhattacharya of Stanford University, Dana Goldman of the University of Southern California and RAND Corporation, Neeraj Sood of the University of Southern California, Anup Malani and Tomas Philipson of University of Chicago, Pinar Karaca Mandic of the　University of Minnesota, and John Romley of the University of Southern California. FHEP is sponsored by the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at the University of Southern California. A subscription to the journal also includes the proceedings from the National Bureau of Economic Research''s annual Frontiers in Health Policy Research Conference. Topics: Economics, Political economics, Biomedical research and the economy, Aging and medical care costs, Nursing, Cancer studies, Medical treatment, Others related.